Nissan’s “Ambition 2030” Plan

Nissan is taking sustainability seriously with their new future plans for electric vehicles

The Japanese automaker may be lagging behind slightly when it comes to the electric and hybrid car market but that’s about to change. The time for resting on laurels is over for Nissan as they plan for a huge cash injection to bolster their reputation as a competitive manufacturer of electric and hybrid cars.

Roughly £13 billion will be invested into the company’s electrification programme over the next 5 years. As we know, the Nissan Leaf has been one of the most successful EVs in markets around the world, competing with Tesla in many regions since its launch in 2010. Since then, however, in true Nissan tradition, the company has relied on this one model as their one and only offering to potential EV customers.

Now, the company is looking to expand their range greatly, and it’s about time. Other manufacturers either already have a range of several electric cars available to purchase or their plans have already been made for their future production of new EV models. The “Nissan Ambition 2030” vision aims for the company’s portfolio to be 50% electrified by fiscal year 2030.

In a press release, Nissan suggests that they are responding to “critical environmental, societal and customer needs” and that the business “aims to become a truly sustainable company, driving towards a cleaner, safer, and more inclusive world”.

More specifically, Nissan aims to be carbon neutral in its operations across the life cycle of its products. Carbon neutrality doesn’t necessarily mean that all their power will be from wind turbines and that they’ll be growing their own vegetables, though. There are other ways that large companies can offset their carbon footprint, as we have seen with Bentley. The purchasing of carbon bonds, for instance, is a common way for companies to pay back the Earth for potential damages.

By claiming to aim for carbon neutrality across the life cycle of their products, Nissan is also suggesting that they care about how the cars are disposed of once they are no longer viable to use. Perhaps they will recycle components, as Tesla does with some of their batteries, in order to reduce the amount of waste that is simply buried underground.

As Brits, one big connotation of Nissan is the Sunderland plant near Newcastle. Ashwani Gupta, the Nissan chief operating officer, said that the Sunderland plant would “take the lead” when it comes to Nissan’s plans for the electrification of its vehicles and that Europe, in general, would be the driving force behind the movement, not Japan.

The goal for carbon neutrality is set for 2050 and Nissan aims to have half of all its models be electrified (hybrid or completely electric) by the year 2030. A very ambitious goal for such a short time frame indeed.

Let us know what you think of Nissan’s newly announced direction, in the comments.

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