The sale of Nissan’s power battery business, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) to Envision Group has been completed, with the new owner aiming for 20GWh of annual production capacity of nickel manganese cobalt batteries in China.
Energy-Storage.news reported the sale was going ahead back in August last year, with Envision Group stepping in after original buyer, equity fund GSR, failed to put up funds in time. AESC is jointly operated by NEC Corporation through its ownership of NEC Energy Devices, a battery electrode manufacturer. Envision’s battery industry fund, Envision AESC, now holds 80% of the newly created holding company Envision AESC Group, with Nissan owning the other 20%.
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“Our batteries boast a superb safety and quality record. To date, our lithium-ion batteries manufactured in Japan, the US, and Europe have been installed in over 430,000 electric vehicles with a zero rate of critical malfunction such as catching fire,” Envision AESC Group CEO Shoichi Matsumoto said.
“We intend to maintain our excellent safety and quality record while moving forward with development of next-generation batteries.”
Envision said AESC will now expand its focus from the US and Japanese markets to also include China. It has set up offices and R&D facilities in Japan, has bases in the UK and US and is now undertaking a three-phase plan to build a NMC lithium-ion battery factory in Lingang Economic Development Zone, Wuxi. With a planned capacity of 20GWh, Envision could supply around 400,000 EVs per year.
Parent company Envision Group is involved in energy internet of things (IoT) creation and has its own operating system suitable for being connected to and controlling wind, solar, EV chargers and many other resources, as well as being a manufacturer of wind turbines. Envision claims that its IoT operating system EnOS is already managing 100GW of energy assets worldwide, integrating technologies from providers including Sonnen, ChargePoint and AutoGrid.
“The integration of renewable energy, AI, IoT, and battery technology will accelerate the energy transition from fossil fuels,” Envision CEO and Envision AESC executive chairman Lei Zhang said.
“Envision will redefine the future of batteries through advanced intelligent technology.”