Automotive News Europe - September 22, 2010 - 5

Cover Story | Automotive News Europe

CEO Martin Winterkorn says that VW will be the one to mass produce the electric car for everyone.

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is investing 4 billion euros to make his alliance the initial leader in mass-market EVs.

and 4 billion euros is one hell of a bet – but we are absolutely convinced this is the right thing to do,” Simon Thomas, Nissan Europe senior vice president of sales and marketing, told Automotive News Europe. VW was less forthcoming when asked about its investment in EVs. VW brand product development chief Ulrich Hackenberg told ANE that the group spends about 5 billion euros at year on r&d, but it does not provide a detailed public breakdown showing how much goes where. “VW takes e-mobility very seriously,” Hackenberg added. “VW sees itself as an innovative volume carmaker that launches a technology on the market when it is clear that technology is ready for mass production.” He said the technical and economic conditions were not right for battery-powered cars when VW started making the Golf CityStromer EV in 1985. The automaker remains skeptical about the long-term growth of EVs, which by 2018 are expected to represent 300,000 of VW Group’s planned 10 million sales. Globally, VW anticipates the market share for full-electric vehicles to be 2 percent by 2020. Ghosn says EVs will account for at least 10 percent of worldwide sales by 2020, roughly 6 million units a year.

Pivotal moments
Nissan started its EV battery research in the early 1990s. The automaker considers the 2007 formation of its battery joint-venture company with NEC Corp. to be key to where it is today. The joint company, Automotive Energy Supply Corp., focuses on the development and mass production of lithium-ion batteries for everything from hybrids to electric vehicles to fuel-cell vehicles. At about the same time that the joint venture was formed, Nissan executives at Thomas’s level

“We came up with a battery that is half the were given a presentation that he says, “proved weight and has twice the power -- and that was the inevitability of electric vehicles.” before anyone was talking about EVs as being a Basically, the executives were told that for real viable mass transport option,” Thomas said. automakers to do their part to slow global “That technology breakthrough, we have done. warming, vehicle emissions would have to Other manufactures will have to catch up.” decrease by a minimum of 70 percent and ideally Not everyone is as impressed with the Renault80 percent. Nissan battery. “We already know, and I think every other Elon Musk, CEO of U.S.-based EV maker Tesla manufacturer would concede, that it is technically Motors Inc., said during a call with shareholders impossible for combustion engines in the car parc and analysts on Aug. 4 that the Leaf’s battery to reduce by that amount,” Thomas said. “So it pack uses a “much more primitive level of leads to the conclusion that you have to move technology” compared with the to zero-emission vehicles. And CHARGING AHEAD sophistication of even Tesla’s there are only two known More and more electric cars solutions today, EV and fuelwill start appearing on Europe's first prototype. Musk, whose comments cell vehicles.” roads in the next 2 years A crucial reason why Nissan Citroen C-Zero 2010 appeared on Earth2Tech, a Web Peugeot iOn 2010 site that covers clean chose EVs is because it sees 2010 technologies, also predicted that great potential for them as the Think City Ford Transit Connect 2011 the Leaf’s pack would experience global car parc grows from Mitsubishi i-MiEV 2011 600 million currently to a Nissan Leaf 2011 “huge degradation” in cold forecast 2.5 billion in 2050. Renault Fluence 2011 weather and essentially “shut “There is no way India is Renault Kangoo 2011 off” in hot temperatures. Renault Twizy 2011 Days later, General Motors Co. going to populate its country Audi R8 e-tron 2012 Chairman Ed Whitacre also took with 50,000 petrol sites; same Ford Focus 2012 a swing at the Leaf. According to with China,” Thomas said. Renault Zoe 2012 Hackenberg agrees: “We Smart ForTwo 2012 a report in the Detroit Free Press, believe the momentum for BMW Megacity Vehicle 2013 when Whitacre was asked about VW Golf blue-e-motion 2013 GM’s upcoming Chevrolet Volt e-mobility is currently VW E-Up 2013 plug-in hybrid, which has a strongest in China.” VW E-Jetta 2013 range-extending combustion Said Thomas: “There is a engine that generates electricity to provide power real leap-frog opportunity for those emerging countries so there is a massive growth opportunity for its batteries, he said “it’s the only electric car you can drive across the country and never have there. We don’t have to wait for Paris, London and to plug it in. Rome to adapt to a new infrastructure.” “So if you’re in a Leaf when you get to 49 Nissan also doesn’t have to wait on a battery miles out,” he said, smiling, “you better Page 49 ➧ for its cars.

When a car manufacturer stands out and says it is going to do something different it is a gamble – and 4 billion euros is one hell of a bet – but we are absolutely convinced this is the right thing to do.
SIMON THOMAS, NISSAN EUROPE HEAD OF SALES AND MARKETING

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Sept. 22, 2010. Volume 1, Issue 1 ANE Executive Edition

Automotive News Europe - September 22, 2010

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