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Nissan to make lithium-ion batteries with NEC: report

AFP - Saturday, May 10

TOKYO (AFP) - - Nissan Motor Co and NEC Corp will join forces in the world's first mass production of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles, a newspaper said Saturday.

The two companies plan to spend 20 billion yen (194 million dollars) to build a plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, the Nikkei business daily said.

Production will begin early next year under Automotive Energy Supply Corp. (AESC), an equally owned joint venture Nissan and NEC established in April 2007, the newspaper said.

The venture will mass-produce enough lithium-ion batteries for 10,000 electric vehicles at the initial stage and plans to raise production capacity by six-fold in the future, it said.

Nissan, Japan's second largest carmaker, plans to raise its stake in the venture to 51 percent when AESC increases its capital for the project, it said.

Lithium-ion batteries are smaller and lighter than the nickel-metal hydride batteries now used in hybrid and electric cars.

AESC is to ship batteries to Nissan as well as the automaker's French partner, Renault SA. Nissan and Renault plan to sell electric cars in Japan and the United States starting in 2010.

By putting the next-generation batteries in its environmentally friendly autos, Nissan hopes to catch up with its rivals Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, which lead in green vehicles, Nikkei said.

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