Nissan's Plug-In Gamble - EXCLUSIVE ROAD TRIP VIDEO

2012 Nissan Leaf

Washington DC August 10, 2009; The AIADA newsletter reported that like all other auto executives these days, Carlos Ghosn has been pulling in the reins.

In February he suspended Nissan Motor's three-year business plan and launched widespread cost cuts, even delaying new products. But Ghosn, who surprised many with his quick turnaround of the Japanese carmaker a decade ago, has been careful to protect spending for his boldest initiative yet: to lead the world into a new era of mass-market electric vehicles.

According to Joann Muller at Forbes, with the help of government loans in the U.S. and elsewhere, Nissan plans to invest several billion dollars over the next three years to construct factories for advanced batteries and retool assembly plants that could produce 300,000 to 400,000 electric vehicles a year on three continents.

Click PLAY to watch The Auto Channel's exclusive RoadTrip look at the Nissan Altima Hybrid and a discussion about the latest EV technology

So far, no manufacturer matches Nissan's ambition to create a mass market for all-electric vehicles. The first of the company's new electric models, the Nissan Leaf, was unveiled earlier this month in Japan.

By 2012 Nissan will have a lithium-ion battery plant and a retooled electric-vehicle assembly line in place in Tennessee, funded in part by a $1.6 billion loan from the U.S. Energy Department.

Click here to read more about Nissan's plans to build and market electric vehicles on a large scale.