nissan

Nissan has called off the sale of its batteries business to Chinese private equity firm GSR Capital, saying the buyer failed to raise the cash required.

A number of Chinese firms including lithium manufacturer Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fibreand lead-acid battery maker Camel had said they would join GSR in the reported $1 billion acquisition of Nissan subsidiary Automotive Energy Supply Corp and manufacturing operations in Japan, the UK and US.

Chinese lithium battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) is to supply batteries for Renault’s Kangoo ZE electric vehicle range, BBB has confirmed.

And Renault’s EV “alliance” partner, Nissan, has told BBB it will also use Chinese-made batteries for its first mass-produced Sylphy Zero Emission EVfor China— although it declined to name the supplier. 

Zhenjiang in China is to be the new headquarters and production base for the now Chinese-owned Nissan electric vehicles batteries business, state media has reported.

The new Nissan batteries complex will be set up in the Zhenjiang New District in Jiangsu Province at a cost of around CNY12.5 billion ($1.9bn), according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.