Nissan to build electric cars in Smyrna, TN

Nissan plans to start production of electric vehicles and batteries by 2012 at the U.S. automotive factory in Smyrna, Tennessee.

The automaker seeks to tap low-interest loans for green vehicles, the story said.

Nissan spokesman Fred Standish could not confirm the report: “As we have said in the past, we have been cooperating with the U.S. Department of Energy since we applied or for a loan last year,” said Standish, director of corporate communications for Nissan North America headquarters in Franklin. “To be clear, we have applied for a loan under a program included in the Energy Act of 2007. This program is designed to retool old factories to produce advanced technology vehicles." “We hope to be approved for this loan, as we have provided a very strong business proposal. At this time, we have nothing further to say or to announce.”

The overall investment is estimated at $516.4 million and may rise to double that, Reuters reported from the Nikkei business daily. Under the plan, the new electric-car assembly lines are to be built at the plant in Smyrna. The factory, capable of making 50,000 to 100,000 eco-friendly vehicles a year by 2012, is expected to first produce a small passenger car.

Nissan also intends to construct a production facility for high-capacity lithium ion batteries at the Smyrna site with NEC Corp, the report states.

Nissan intends to assemble up to 50,000 electric cars a year in Japan starting in fall 2010, the paper said.

The Smyrna factory the past couple of years has been downsizing its workforce through voluntary buyouts during the recession. It peaked at 7,000 employees a few years ago, had about 5,500 a year ago and currently has around 3,900 workers. When counting Nissan contractors, about 5,200 work at the factory. The state’s unemployment rate reached 10.7 percent in May, and Smyrna has reported similar numbers this year. Smyrna Vice Mayor Tony Dover, acting as mayor while Mayor Bob Spivey is recovering from a stroke, is hopeful for the Nissan project. “This will cause a lot of people to breathe a sigh of relief,” Dover said. “Obviously, it’s a good thing for the plant with everybody concerned about the economy and sales. It’s good for our community and good for those employees." “People are concerned about Nissan, because it is such a big contributor to Smyrna because of (tax dollars) and workers there. I have gotten a lot of questions about Nissan.”

Nissan has announced plans to introduce electric cars in the United States in 2010 and will mass market them globally two years later. In May 2008, Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault, committed the Renault-Nissan Alliance to be a global leader in zero-emission vehicles.

The alliance also announced that Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the nation’s largest energy-research center, is partnering with Nissan in Tennessee to promote the development of zero-emission vehicles and a complementary charging infrastructure. This expands the scope of an existing partnership between Nissan and the state of Tennessee, which also includes the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Nissan staged a promotional event in April with Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen to show off pre-production electric cars in Franklin, where the company’s U.S. operations are headquartered. “I got to drive the vehicle,” said Sen. JIm Tracy, a Republican from Shelbyville who represents much of Smyrna and Rutherford County. “I got to talk to the guy who invented the car. I was impressed with the vehicle.”

Nissan continues to remain competitive in a tumultuous automotive market, said Holly Weber, vice president of economic development for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce.“They are consistently at the forefront on technology and innovation, and this is a testimony of that and their commitment to Rutherford County and Tennessee,” Weber said.

Source : The Tennessean, by Scott Broden, June 20th, 2009