Nissan and Sumitomo Establish Joint Company for Research on Second-Life Use of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Japan's Nissan Motor Co. and Sumitomo Corp. announced on September 15, 2010, that they established a new joint-venture company, 4R Energy Corp., on September 14, 2010. This new company will conduct research on the second-life use of lithium-ion batteries that have been used previously in electric cars.

Naming the second-life use business for recyclable advanced lithium-ion batteries as the "4R Energy" business, the two companies started a joint study to "Reuse, Resell, Refabricate and Recycle" the lithium ion batteries used in electric cars in October 2009.

Nissan Motor will launch its world's first mass-produced electric vehicle (EV), the "Leaf," in December 2010 in Japan and the U.S., followed by a global release in 2012. Meanwhile, in April 2010, Sumitomo established a new division, the New Business Development & Promotion Division, which is responsible for environmental businesses and is working on developing new approaches to realizing a low-carbon, recycling-based society.

The new company, capitalized at 450 million yen (about U.S.$5,421,686), will conduct demonstration tests and a commercialization study targeting Japan and North America, aiming to meet management goals for the battery's entire value chain and energy-storage solutions.

Pre-Orders for Nissan's New EV Exceeds 2010 Sales Goal in Two Months (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/030208.html

Nissan and Sumitomo Establish Joint Research Company for Promotion of '4R Energy' Business
http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/NEWS/
2010/_STORY/100915-02-e.html

Posted: 2010/12/27 06:00:15 AM