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Article: Fed loan will help Nissan build battery plant in Tenn.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Automotive News
- Article date:
- June 29, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Richard Truett and Hans Greimel
A big chunk of the $1.6 billion loan that Nissan North America received from the U.S. government will pay for a lithium ion battery plant.
The plant will make the batteries and assemble them into ready-to-install modules.
"We wanted the battery plant as close to the manufacturing line for the vehicle as possible, Mark Swenson, Nissan North America's vice president of manufacturing engineering, told Automotive News. "The battery pack itself weighs around 500 pounds. So the closer we can get it to where it is installed in the vehicle, the better.
The assembly line in the Smyrna, Tenn., plant that ...