Japanese batteries in Tennessee

President Obama's "green" initiatives already seem to be bearing fruit, with Japanese ventures creating employment in the USA, while reducing future CO2 emissions.

Nissan plans the construction of an electric car assembly plant in Smyrna, TN, taking advantage of the low-interest loans being offered by the US government for the production of green vehicles and will probably receive in the region of USD1 bn to help start the project.

By 2012, Nissan expects to be producing between 50,000 and 100,00 vehicles per year from this facility.

In addition to this, NEC has joined hands with Nissan to produce the high-capacity Li-Ion batteries used in the vehicles, again in Tennessee. Though these are initially intended for internal (Nissan) consumption, the batteries produced here may be offered to other users and consumers of batteries in the future.