Nissan and Mitsubishi Corporation will be establishing a joint venture by the end of the 2024 fiscal year to provide services for self-driving cars and electric vehicle batteries, Yomiuri Shinbun has reported.
This joint venture aims to provide transportation services at Level 4 autonomous operation – where the vehicle can operate without human input under certain conditions – as well as for the development of electric vehicle batteries to be used for domestic electricity use, among other services, according to the report.
The Nissan-Mitsubishi Corporation joint venture will be of equal share, and the company will be launched in March 2025, according to the report.
On the development of autonomous driving capabilities, Nissan is developing the vehicles for this purpose, while Mitsubishi Corporation is working to commercialise a system by using artificial intelligence to determine the optimal routes for autonomous operation.
Subject to the results of the developments, the joint venture between the companies aims to operate unmanned taxis and other services in line with regulations of the Japanese government. The unmanned taxi service will be first introduced in Yokohama and in Namie, and Nissan is conducting experimental runs for autonomous driving and other technologies in both locations, reported Yomiuri Shimbun.
On EV battery development, the two companies are exploring possibilities of a service that will connect electric vehicles to homes and power grids, enabling the use of battery-stored electricity in domestic buildings, or to sell electricity back to the grid.
The joint venture is also developing a project that promotes the collection of used electric vehicle batteries for secondary use as well as for recycling, to mitigate the issue of used EV batteries being discarded overseas, according to the report.
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