Nissan Considers Nickel Battery for Electric Cars

10/18/96

Reuters reported that Nissan has announced it is considering developing an electric vehicle that will be driven by a nickel-metal hydride battery. The company denied a report from earlier in the week that said it had plans to use a batter that would be manufactured by a joint venture that included Toyota Motor Corporation and Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Ltd.

Nissan has also been preparing to sell an electric vehicle powered by a lithium ion battery, which it is developing in cooperation with the Sony Corporation. That battery will power a recreational vehicle that Nissan plans to launch in Japan next year. The company expects to market the RV in the U.S.; beginning in January 1998, said a company spokesperson.

Discussing the relative merits of lithium ion batteries versus the nickel-metal hydride ones, the Nissan spokesperson said that the lithium ion batteries don't have to be recharged as often as the other, but the cost of producing them is considerably higher.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel