Nissan Leaf Battery Pack Reportedly Costs $9,000 US

Nissan Leaf Battery Pack








It is being reported that the Nissan Leaf lithium ion battery pack costs $9,000. Since the entire pack has a capacity of 24 kWh's, the price per kWh is $9,000 / 24 = $375. We were not supposed to see these low figures until 2015 or thereabouts. It was estimated ten years ago that mass producing NiMH batteries (like the ones used in the Toyota Rav4 EV) would equate to $250 per kWh. At these prices, the Federal Tax rebate alone can pay for the battery pack, which makes the EV comparable in price to similiarly sized internal combustion vehicles.

The Times Online claims that the LEAF battery pack costs about £6,000 British to build. At today’s exchange rates, this equates to roughly $9,000 US dollars. To give you an idea of just how low this figure is, a few years ago prices of $1,000 per kWh were being bandied around. Today, the industry average is about $650 per kWh. Industry analysts have said that they expect battery prices to drop faster than previously thought, but that it would still likely be 2015/2016 before battery prices were $325 per kWh. If Nissan’s battery is being built for $375 per kWh now, that means Nissan is about 5 years ahead of the industry average.

The more batteries they make, the faster the price will drop as the economies of scale kick in. We feel that if the auto companies build them, the customers will come.


Source: Gas2.0