The Nissan LEAF will be produced in the United States

The United States Department of Energy has closed a financing agreement worth 1.4 billion dollars with Nissan in North America. This credit will be used to refurbish the plant that Nissan owns in Smyrna, Tennessee, to adapt it to the manufacture of the Nissan LEAF, a zero-emission electric vehicle in line with current trends, and a facility for producing the lithium-ion batteries that will power this vehicle.

This credit is part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan programme, a 25 billion dollar programme provided for by the Energy Independence and Security Act, prompted by the high dependence on oil, a strategic resource that causes numerous fluctuations in the economy.

The credit will result in the creation of up to 1,300 jobs once the factories are operating at full capacity. The refurbishment of the Smyrna plant, which will begin at the end of this year, includes a new battery factory, this being the model that the LEAF will use (not the battery-swap model where batteries are replaced with charged ones), as well as the restructuring of the assembly line to allow for electric vehicles.

The total operating capacity of the plant, once it is set up and running at full capacity, will be around 150,000 cars a year, with battery production of 200,000 units. This model is expected to be launched in December 2010 to join Renault as the main drivers of electric vehicles.

Source | Nissan