Nissan and NEC (previously known as Nippon Electric Company) joined forces back in 2007 to create battery manufacturing company, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC). Their main goal was to use NEC batteries in Nissan vehicles, and each company has invested hundreds of millions into doing this. The first example of the benefits of the partnership came in 2010 with the introduction of the Nissan Leaf which hosted an NEC battery.
Just seven years after the partnership formed, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation became the second largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer in the world. The only ones to prove more successful in this area are Panasonic, the manufacturers of Tesla’s battery cell. But, the joint Nissan venture just can’t seem to catch up with the success of Tesla, and they are currently shopping around for another partner to join them moving forward.
While Nissan is out shopping for partners, AESC’s shares are up for sale, and Panasonic looks like they could be interested. But, whether this will be a good move for Nissan will remain to be seen. Although AESC could only ever come second to Tesla, with the help of Panasonic, they may well find themselves at the top soon, which would be rather disappointing for Nissan.
The split from AESC came after realizing their batteries would be much more cost efficient to produce is done in house. Rumors are amidst the tech world that has Nissan working alongside LG Chem in its next battery pack venture, who are self-believers that they have the best battery cell options for vehicles right now. However, research also agrees with this and shows LG Chem placing first last year on the leaderboard report for li-ion batteries, so Tesla and Panasonic may need to watch out for the upcoming competition.
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