Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc. – the regional headquarters for the Americas within the global operations of Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. – announced that it is supplying the 144 V lithium-ion battery pack for the 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid sport utility vehicle now on sale in North America.
The lithium-ion battery packs for the Pathfinder Hybrid are compact, lightweight units offering high power density capability. The battery cells are being manufactured by Hitachi Vehicle Energy, Ltd., a Hitachi Automotive Systems Group company, for assembly into the battery packs at Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas’ Kentucky plant.
Fourth-generation of Li-ion cells designed by Hitachi Vehicle Energy feature a new prismatic format with specific power of 4500 W/kg and specific energy of 72 W.h/kg.
In 1999, Hitachi launched its vehicle battery business, as the world’s first mass producer of safe, high-performance, long-operating-life lithium-ion batteries. It has since supplied the market with more than 4.5 million cells for commercial hybrid buses and trucks and hybrid passenger vehicles. Hitachi Automotive Systems Group is pushing forward with the development of electric vehicle battery systems, expansion of sales, and other efforts for meeting the current and future needs of customers worldwide.
Source: Hitachi
Romain’s opinion:
The competition is rough between battery pack suppliers. However, as Hitachi is part of Nissan’s group, maybe that there was no supplier selection in that case, and then no competition. Do you think that Nissan may not have chosen the best battery pack solution on the market due to this fact?