Nissan Turns to Component ‘Sharing’ to Cuts EV Costs

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

---

9th March 2023

Nissan is targeting cut-price BEV and hybrid vehicles with the announcement of its ‘sharing’ business model to cut production costs.

Its new strategy for electrified powertrain development, dubbed “X-in-1”, will see core EV and e-Power powertrain components shared and in a modular format. The automaker claims this could result in a 30% reduction in development and manufacturing costs by 2026 when compared to costs in 2019.

Nissan says it has developed a 3-in-1 powertrain prototype, which sees the motor, inverter and reducer combined into a single unit for use in EVs. A 5-in-1 prototype, which additionally modularizes the generator and increaser, is planned for use in e-Power hybrid vehicles. This X-in-1 approach, which covers 3-in-1, 5-in-1 and other possible variants, has been developed to enable core components to be produced on the same line.

Nissan says the X-in-1 approach provides the following benefits:

• Sharing and modularizing core components aims to achieve e-Power price parity with ICE vehicles by around 2026;
• Size and weight reduction of the unit improves vehicle driving performance and minimizes noise and vibration;
• Adopt newly developed motor that reduces the use of heavy rare earth elements to 1% or less by weight.

Senior vice-president Toshihiro Hirai, who leads powertrain and EV engineering powertrain development, said: “We make the most of our expertise and know-how from our more-than-a-decade long development and production of electrified technologies. Through our innovations in electrified powertrain development, we’ll continue to create new value for customers and deliver 100% motor-driven vehicles – EVs and e-Power – as widely as possible.”

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_