Carlos "Guitarlos" Ghosn is pushing his company's dedication to lighter, more compact battery units. While Nissan's current hybrid system is based on NiMH batteries with powertrain tech licensed from Toyota, Renault's Japanese brothers are hammering on lithium ion cells in hopes of gaining a competitive advantage in electrical propulsion; in fact, Ghosn says he'd love to see Nissan in the ring with a viable electric vehicle. With GM having offered up a full-boat commitment to the Volt project and Toyota continuing to be well, Toyota, the melee in the hybrid market's only going to get more interesting before it gets codified.
Nissan developing smaller, lighter car batteries for hybrids and electric cars, CEO says [IHT]
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