Nissan announced today that it will invest US$ 500 million in its assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi, to bring it up to date with the latest electric vehicle manufacturing technology. Following the updates, the plant will produce two all-new, all-electric vehicles starting in 2025. Nissan’s investment in the plant will go towards updating the plant and upskilling the nearly 2,000 employees who run it. It’s part of a wider investment of more than US$ 13.5 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations.
With that, the automaker plans to be able
to make an all-new Nissan EV as well as an all-new Infiniti EV there. Details
remain scant about the new models but teaser footage of the vehicles makes them
look distinctly like sedans, which is an interesting choice, considering the
market’s love of SUVs and crossovers.
The lighting display shown in the video
does seem to suggest that aerodynamic efficiency will be a major consideration
in their design, as has become common for range-obsessed manufacturers. In
December, the premium brand announced that most of its vehicles will be
electrified by 2030, shortly after Nissan previewed a range of 23 electrified
models set to go on sale by the same date. Of those, 15 will be fully electric
and the automaker hopes to make its global operations carbon neutral by 2050.
To achieve that, it will introduce cheaper
cobalt-free batteries by 2028 and more power-dense solid-state batteries in the
same year. Nissan also intends to increase its global battery production
capacity to 52 GWh by 2026 and to 130 GWh by 2030.
