Nissan To End Development Of New Combustion Engines – Report

Japanese car giant Nissan has apparently signalled the end of the line for the internal combustion engine, and the era of the EV (electric vehicle).

According to Asia Nikkei, Nissan will end development of new internal combustion engines in all its major markets except the United States and instead focus its resources on electric vehicles.

The move is a significant development in the changing transport industry, and if confirmed, means that Nissan is the first major Japanese car maker to break away from the traditional combustion engine.

Combustion engine

According to the Asia Nikkei, Nissan has already stopped developing petrol and diesel engines for sale in Europe.

The report states that ‘limited development’ will continue on gasoline engines for the US market, mainly those used in pickup trucks, where it expects a certain level of demand.

The move comes as countries tighten emission restrictions and set dates when traditional combustion engined cars will no longer be sold, in an effort to promote a shift to EVs.

In Europe, new Euro 7 emissions standards are on track to go into effect as early as 2025.

Nissan has reportedly determined these rules will raise the cost of developing internal combustion engines to unsustainable levels.

Other countries are implementing their own switches to zero emission vehicles.

In December 2020 Denmark said it would finance 775,000 electric or hybrid cars for residents by 2030 under a new plan agreed with its parliament.

But the UK has perhaps the most aggressive emissions target, and has said it will to stop selling new diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2030.

From 2030 to 2035 hybrid cars (with an electric motor and combustion engine) can still be sold, but all combustion engine sales must end by 2035, and only zero emission vehicles can sold after that date.

Nissan meanwhile will reportedly phase out development of gasoline engines for the Chinese and Japanese markets. But it will continue to develop engines for hybrid vehicles, and it will continue to tweak existing engine designs.

Reportedly Nissan factories making combustion engines will remain open and no job cuts are planned at this time.

Nissan of course has been an early EV mover with its Nissan Leaf vehicle being launched back in 2010.

The Japanese car maker reportedly spends about 500 billion yen ($4.3 billion) a year on research and development, with most of that investment going toward combustion engines and cars. Those funds now will be redirected to EVs and other new technology.

EV transition

Nissan’s announcement, if officially confirmed, could be the start of similar moves by other car makers.

It has been tough couple of years for the car industry, having to contend with the global chip shortage that has hampered production and manufacturing.

Last month the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that the chip shortage will continue to hurt British car sales throughout this year and into 2023, after making a serious dent in vehicle supply in 2021.

In August Toyota warned that its worldwide vehicle production would be slashed by 40 percent in September because of the global chip shortage.

The average vehicle requires between 1,500 and 3,000 of older style chips.

Emissions goal

Car makers are making the move to EVs in the meantime.

Last September Ford announced a significant investment as in electric vehicle (EV) production in the United States.

The blue oval and its South Korean battery partner SK Innovation, will invest $11.4 billion to build an “environmentally and technologically advanced” mega campus in Tennessee, as well as two twin battery plants located in Kentucky.

Ford has been investing in EVs for a while now. In 2015 it said it was planning to increase its investment in electric and hybrid vehicles by $4.5 billion over the next five years.

The move to EVs only is not without its critics however.

In December Stellantis chief executive Carlos Tavares said that external pressure on car makers to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles potentially threatens jobs and vehicle quality, as manufacturers struggle to manage the higher costs of building EVs, Reuters reported.

The move towards electric vehicles is driven by government policies aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

However combustion engine cars are constantly improving their emissions, and these new rules tend to ignore the real emissions culprit which is found on every street, namely the typical home.

Another issue is that electric batteries are actually incredibly toxic as well, and have a finite lifespan, as short as 5 to 7 years – much shortly than the life of regularly maintained combustion engined car.

The Stellantis boss feels that governments should rather shift the focus of climate policy toward cleaning up the energy sector and developing electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.

That said, Tavares has accelerated Stellantis’ electric vehicle development, committing 30 billion euros through 2025 to developing new electric vehicle architectures, building battery plants and investing in raw materials and new technology.