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The acceleration of electrification – Nissan Europe boss Paul Willcox on Nissan’s bold electrified vision for the future

Paul_WILLCOX Chairman_Nissan_Europe
Paul Willcox, chairman Nissan Europe

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11 October 2017

Acceleration of electrification

  • New electric vehicles announced with bigger batteries, longer range
  • New Nissan Leaf with special 2.Zero version for UK and Europe
  • Updated Nissan e-NV200 van with advanced new battery giving businesses an extra 60 miles of range
  • Additional infrastructure commitment with 1000 quick charger installations for Europe
  • Innovative business offer of ability to ‘sell back’ power to the grid using V2G bi-directional charging
  • UK collaboration with OVO allowing customers to purchase an xStorage home energy unit at a discounted price enabling them to ‘sell’ back energy to the grid.

PAUL WILLCOX and his Nissan colleagues are on a mission: to speed up the electrification of cars and vans; and to offer new ways for sustainable energy to power the grid. Or, as the chairman of Nissan Europe calls it: “the acceleration of electrification”.

Speaking at the third Nissan Futures event – ‘The Car and Beyond’ – based in Oslo, Norway, Willcox said:

“Nissan kick-started the electric vehicle revolution almost a decade ago.

“In that time we’ve sold more EVs than any other manufacture on the planet.

“Now, we’re outlining our plans for the next decade, which will see even bigger investments in infrastructure, new battery advances and will even change the way people access and pay for the power in their cars.”

Willcox said the company’s plans went way beyond the mere electric vehicle: it was the relationship of Nissan, the electric battery and innovative storage solutions that was key to the accelerated take up of electric vehicles.

Outlining Nissan’s thinking, Willcox said the umbrella term for it was ‘Nissan Intelligent Mobility’.

 

Nissan Intelligent Mobility

acceleration of electrificationNissan Intelligent Mobility has three strands:

  • Nissan Intelligent Power: the electric battery
  • Nissan Intelligent Driving: connected and autonomous cars
  • Nissan Intelligent Integration: how EVs work with society

The Amsterdam Arena was one example: used Nissan Leaf batteries are being utilised as emergency back-up power. The batteries have replaced diesel generators and also help to power the Dutch grid during times of peak demand.

Willcox said Nissan’s commitment wasn’t a smokescreen, a way to defray reputational damage associated with diesel emissions.

“We are, and have been involved, because we want to. We predict that by 2027 30% of all cars sold will be electric. But that’s conservative.

“What we are seeing is the acceleration of electrification.

“In the same way that the internal combustion engine moved from gimmick to mainstream essential, the electric vehicle will reshape the way we live. It will have a profound effect, in the same way that Tim Berners-Lee did by inventing the world wide web; and Apple the iPhone.

“That’s why we are holding this Nissan Futures event in Oslo, Norway, a country that is more progressively involved in the adoption of electric vehicles than California, where 25% of newly registered cars are EVs, and where one in every two cars sold by Nissan is an EV. The city is proactive about EVs and is moving from fossil emissions to emission free.”

New Leaf unveiled

acceleration of electrification
ProPILOT automated parking

WIllcox unveiled the new Nissan Leaf with its greater 235-mile range, e-Pedal technology allowing drivers to use just the accelerator to contol both acceleration and braking, along with ProPILOT advanced driver assistance system, including an autonomous parking function,

More importantly, Willcox said the new Leaf would come in at the same price point as the existing car.

There’s also a new model – on sale now – called the Nissan Leaf 2.Zero which features ProPILOT and e-Pedal as standard equipment.  The car has been piloted in Norway, where Willcox said it had sold 1600 units in just three weeks.

We can expect further Leaf developments, too, with a Nismo concept to be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show, while in 2019 Willcox promised a higher power Leaf with further improved range.

Improving city air with new e-NV200

acceleration of electrification
174 miles range: new e_NV200 van

Nissan also announced that its e-NV200 van now had its range extended by a further 60 miles (100km) to 174 miles, which would help counter the ‘Amazon effect’ – massively increased demand for goods delivery ordered online.

“There are 10% more vehicles on the road than there were in 2010. But the real increase is not cars but vans that have seen a 38% increase.

“There are simply more delivery drivers on the road that ever before – vans are the fastest growing sector, and it’s an area here we can have the greatest effect.

“With our new electric vans, more deliveries can be made on a single charge and that’s deliveries – whether last mile or not – that have no impact on air quality.”

The new e-NV200 equipped with upgraded 40kWh battery will be available to order before the end of 2017.

Increasing the electric infrastructure

To speed up the adoption of electric vehicles, Wilcox said Nissan was expanding Europe’s largest fast charger infrastructure network by 20%, with 1,000 additional quick charger installations at a cost of 15m Euro.

The investment would take the number of fast chargers to 5,600 within the next 18 months.

Making EVs work both for business and consumer

acceleration of electrification
Home storage

To demonstrate that Willcox was warming to his theme of acceleration of electrification, he also announced a new 22kW charger for business users that can charge an EV in just two hours; Willcox said the charger would also be available to consumers who wanted fast charging facilities at home.

In yet a further offering, Willcox also announced ‘free’ energy for businesses thanks to bi-directional charging on the Leaf thorugh V2G technology whereby vehicles can be charged – or help the grid – in a symbiotic partnership of electric charging.

“It sounds too good to be true,” said Willcox. “But we believe that we have found a way for fleets to give power back to the grid and be rebated for that energy – so it is free!”

Willcox said there was also a consumer version which was being delivered in collaboration with energy company OVO whereby consumers could buy a Nissan xStorage home energy unit (essentially used Leaf batteries) at a discounted price enabling them to ‘sell’ back energy to the grid once they had powered their own home.

Willcox finished by saying: “We want to remove any barriers to entering the EV world. The acceleration of electrification is happening now.”

Analysis of Nissan’s acceleration of electrification

Ralph Morton, editorial director

There is no doubting Nissan’s commitment to electrification. They are going the full hog – no plug-in hybrids here, but fully functional electric cars and vans that can go a workable distance on one charge and then be recharged quickly thanks to technology that Nissan is backing.

And there’s plenty more coming from the Nissan tech cupboard. In 2019 there’s going to be a higher power Leaf with even greater range. It’s not unreasonable to think of a working 300 miles before the car needs plugging in again.

acceleration of electrification
Nissan NISMO Leaf Concept

Then there’s the hot NISMO Leaf concept due at Tokyo – Nissan clearly believes the time is ready to have a halo model to refract light more widely around the Leaf as it ventures from side show to centre spotlight.

Some of it though felt like wishful thinking – or talking up the possibilities.

While you can’t fault the commitment or investment of its quick charger programme for Europe, which is highly welcome, I wonder how much real effect will it have – at an average of five chargers per European country?

Or the free electricity for businesses. In particular, the consumer product feels a bit undercooked at the moment. It will cost something like £5,000 to install an xStorage home energy unit, and it assumes you already have solar panels to feed it clean energy. But OVO’s MD admitted that it would take seven years (out of a 10-year life) to break even; thereafter there was £350 a year to be made by selling back to the grid.

Nevertheless, this was groundbreaking stuff by Nissan. A positive vision for the place of renewable electricity and transportation in the modern world.

You couldn’t help but come away with a green glow over the possibilities.

 

 

 

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