Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler spoilt for battery choice

The strategic cooperation between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler gives the newly-formed group a host of choices for lithium-ion battery suppliers. Joint ventures have been agreed with energy suppliers and specialists in lithium-ion battery technology, during 2009 and 2010, which provide each manufacturer with its own electric battery requirements plus the capacity to sell battery packs to third-party manufacturers.

Renault-Nissan Alliance

Nissan has agreed with NEC in Japan a joint programme to develop and build lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. A plant is under construction at Nissan’s factory in Kanagawa, Tokyo, with capacity to source batteries for a production level of 60,000 cars a year.

Construction of Nissan’s advanced lithium-ion battery plant inSunderland began in April, 2010. It will have a production capacity of 60,000 batteries a year and will start manufacturing in 2012 .

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has also agreed a wide-ranging plan to build lithium-ion batteries in Portugal. A new plant will be built at Renault’s CACIA industrial complex at Aveiro with a capacity of 50,000 batteries a year starting in 2012.

In November 2009, a letter of intent was signed between the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the French Strategic Investment Fund (FSI) to set up a joint venture company that would develop and manufacture batteries for electric vehicles at the Renault Flins plant in northern France. Production capacity is targeted at 100,000 batteries a year from mid 2012. Renault intends to use the batteries produced at Flins primarily for the all-new electric car that will derive from the Zoe ZE Concept, also to be built at the Flins plant.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance will use its European battery plants in France, the UK and Portugal to supply electric vehicles built in Europe and Turkey. Batteries produced would also be available for sale to any other electric car manufacturer.

Daimler

Daimler has entered into a joint venture agreement with German energy company Evonik to develop and build its own lithium-ion units. Evonik has become a leader in the supply of lithium-ion batteries for laptops and mobile phones and is now supplying the technology for engineers from both Evonik and Daimler to create electric batteries. Daimler is apparently considering supplying complete ready-to-use battery packs to other third-party manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Daimler has agreed with California-based Tesla, in which Daimler has a minority equity stake, to provide lithium-ion batteries for the Smart Electric Drive. The Smart ED is being tested in cities in the United States, Europe and Japan before volume production starts at a future date.

In March 2010, Daimler signed a partnership agreement with Chinese battery and carmaker BYD to design and build electric vehicles for the Chinese market. BYD is a world leader in mobile phone batteries. The company (BYD stands for Build Your Dreams) is highly attractive to Daimler because it has subsequently developed an electric car battery that is a global pace-setter for other would-be manufacturers.

At the March 2010 Geneva car show, BYD showed its e6, five-seater MPV/crossover model powered by the company’s Fe lithium-ion phosphate battery providing a range of 205 miles – well in excess of the range of other electric cars that are waiting in the wings. It will launch in late 2010.

Over-supply

The Renault-Nissan Alliance and its new strategic partner, Daimler, are faced with a wide variety of choices as to which lithium-ion battery sources they use. The fledgling group would appear to be over-supplied with technologies and production capacity. There is the opportunity to provide battery packages to other manufacturers but they too are rapidly putting in place their own technologies and productive capacities.

The whole automotive industry needs to rationalise its electric battery plans but, in the short term at least, this appears unlikely.