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As a part of a statement that the automotive alliance formed by Nissan Motor, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors through 2026 will invest a combined 3 trillion yen ($26.3 billion) into developing electric vehicles and new solid-state batteries the trio also said they will work together in battery reuse.
It's Nissan's remanufacturing operation in Fukushima in Japan, which is run in a joint venture with Sumitomo under the name 4R Energy Corp, that will be extended to Europe and the US with the participation of Renault and Mitsubishi.
In Fukushima Nissan batteries which have which have been replaced under warranty have been remanufactured to be used for the same kind of replacements. The company initiated the model in the US through Spiers New Technology but ended the work in 2018. A return of the program will be welcomed not least by Nissan Leaf owners in the US where many owners are looking for replacement packs after their warranty period has ceased, often with little success unless they find salvaged batteries which starts to become a real business. At the time the Fukushima operation was launched indicative price of replacement packs was $2,850 for 24 kWh. Both Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe, as well as their commercial siblings eNV 200 and Kangoo can have their batteries replaced with packs with higher capacity, still using the same pack.
Read more about the announcement here.
Read more about the launch of the Fukushima plant here.