Electric cars: They’re not just for Elon Musk anymore. Nissan has announced Ambition 2030, its intention to invest a substantial sum (more than 2 trillion yen) in electric vehicles. And not just a few either. The company hopes to dish out 23 EV models by 2030, with at least twenty of those being available in the next five years.
Nissan hopes to, “…deliver exciting, electrified vehicles and technological innovations while expanding its operations globally” over the next ten years, with an eye on becoming fully carbon neutral by 2050. Because, you know, the planet’s on fire.
It’s good to have Ambition 2030
Of the 23 vehicles it hopes to launch by 2030, the company intends to bring fifteen completely new EV models to market. There are already a few in Nissan’s stable, including the Leaf and Re-Leaf, which we really want them to release commercially.
Electrifying its vehicle offerings is a major part of the 2 trillion yen (R284 billion) investment plan. The company is shooting for a 75% focus on EVs in Europe by 2026, 55% in Japan, 40% in China. It’s also targeting 40% of its sales being EVs in the States by 2030. The Yanks do love their gasoline.
As with Honda, which recently announced a similar investment program, Nissan is expanding the breadth of the technologies at its command. It plans to build a pilot plant for its all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) in Yokohama by 2024, and roll out the battery tech in its vehicles by 2028. The plan is to make its batteries cheaper and faster to charge. So… basically what every other battery maker is trying to do, then.
Making concepts? Easy.
The company also revealed several concept vehicles, the tech in which we can expect to see in actual cars at some point. There are four: the Chill-Out, Hang-Out, Max-Out, and Surf-Out. The self-driving Chill-Out is the only one that actually seems to exist as an actual vehicle. All of them feature absolutely bonkers designs.
The Hang-Out appears designed for camping, with a modular design that turns it into a home away from home. The Surf-Out is for off-roading, the beach, and for moving garden refuse, we guess. The Max-Out is Nissan’s performance vehicle, showcasing tech that’s supposed to be used at high speed. Each concept embodies a specific aspect of the tech Nissan has in development. We can’t wait to see any (or all) of it in the er… polycarbonate and aircraft-grade alloy.