The Nissan LEAF, the Japanese company’s first real-world electric car (that goes on sale globally later this year), seeks to slash battery costs by US$9,000 ($10,000) to be more competitive.
In it’s current form the 24-kilowatt lithium battery costs US$472 per kilowatt, making it the most expensive part of the LEAF.
At US $32,780, Nissan is working hard on cutting costs to a target of $370 per kilowatt to make a profit from the LEAF and not price itself out of the market.
Nissan’s potential cost cutting to its 100 percent electric car could work in Australia’s favour as the LEAF may be too expensive to make a real impact. Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn said he expects his company to produce 500,000 electric cars a year by 2012 with the electric cars to make up 10 percent of the entire car market.
General sales of the LEAF will commence in the US this year and Nissan dealers in Australia will have cars on the showroom floor in 2012.
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