Automotive Energy Supply Corporation

Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) is a manufacturer of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles established 2007 as a joint venture between Nissan, NEC and NEC TOKIN.

History

In 2007 NEC Corporation, Nissan Motor Company, and NEC TOKIN agreed to establish a lithium-ion battery company focused on development to production of batteries for electric vehicles;^[1] in 2008 the company was established with a capital of ¥1.5 billion ($14.3million) with a 51:42:7 Nissan:NEC:NEC TOKIN shareholding; the business was to establish a manufacturing site at Nissan's facility in Zama, Kanagawa c.2009, with an initial capacity of 13,000 units per year, rising to 65,000 units per year on an investment of ¥12 billion ($114.6 million). The plant was to be supplied with lithium manganese electrode from NEC TOKIN's factory in Sagamihara, Kanagawa; itself upgraded at a cost of ¥11 billion ($128million). Initial markets were to be forklift trucks, followed by electric and hybrid vehicles manufactured by Nissan.^[2][3]

Initial production was based on a manganese spinel cathode, with batteries formed from laminated cells. The battery (L3-10) was a 251 by 144.2 by 9.2 millimetres (9.88 in × 5.68 in × 0.36 in) unit of 13Ah, 3.6V with a power density of 2060W/kg (2.5V @ 20°C).^[4]

In late 2008 the joint owners announced they were to invest a further ¥100 billion ($1.1 billion) into AESC, establishing an additional factory to increasing capacity to supply around 200,000 vehicles per year.^[5] Trial production at Zama began mid 2009.^[6]

In 2010 the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle began production, using batterys from AESC.^[7]

In 2014 AESC was the second largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer worldwide (after Panasonic), with 21% of the market.^[8] In late 2014 Reuters reported conflict within the Nissan / Renault carmaker alliance over sourcing of battery packs for its Sunderland, Tyne and Wear (UK) and Smyrna, Tennessee (USA) car battery plants due to lack of price competivity with rival cell manufacturer LG - Nissan was reported to have signed contracts to take all of NEC's cell electrode production, irrespective of sales.^[9]

References