Nissan May Not be Talking, But Others are Spilling the Beans on the LEAF Battery Price

Last week it surfaced that the Nissan LEAF battery may cost an astoundingly low $375 per kilowatt hour to produce. Given that the battery is the single most expensive piece of equipment on electric cars, getting that cost down as quickly as possible will be key to selling them at reasonable prices.

In a Bloomberg report today, the LEAF’s battery maker, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) — which is joint venture between Nissan and NEC — is saying that their targets are “a lot tougher.” Masahiko Otsuka, president of AESC, even went on to give specifics, saying that their target is lower than $370 per kWh for the entire battery pack.

Whether or not that price is what AESC can provide out of the starting gate is another question entirely.

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