To launch over 30 battery EVs based on 5 platforms – sources
Targets compact EVs as cheap as gasoline cars by 2025 – sources
Jan 23 (Reuters) – Renault SA (RENA.PA), Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) plan to triple their investment to jointly develop electric vehicles (EVs), two people with knowledge of the plan told Reuters.
As established automakers face pressure from new competitors and an expected shift in demand toward EVs, the French-Japanese alliance is seeking to deepen cooperation.
The three are expected to announce on Thursday a plan to invest more than 20 billion euros ($23 billion) over the next five years on EV development, the sources said. By 2030, the alliance is expected to come up with more than 30 new battery EVs underpinned by five common platforms, they said.
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That is in addition to 10 billion euros the group has already spent on electrification, said the two people with knowledge of the plan.
A Nissan spokesperson declined to “comment on speculation”. Spokespeople for Renault and Mitsubishi did not respond to requests for comment.
The “Alliance to 2030” plan aims to show “intensified cooperation” among the automakers, highlighting a “shared vision on electrification and connected mobility,” one source said. The five common platforms are expected to cover 90% of EVs the companies are expected to develop and launch by 2030, the sources said.
The three-firm alliance has developed and partly deployed four common EV platforms.
One underpins EVs such as Nissan’s upcoming Ariya and Renault’s Megane EV, and another supports affordable no-frills cars by Nissan and its China market partner Dongfeng, as well as for Renault’s Dacia brand. The other two are platforms for micro minis, called “kei cars” in Japan, and light commercial vehicles.
By mid-decade, the alliance aims to deploy a fifth common platform for compact EVs designed by Renault, the sources said.
Nissan has already decided to use this platform, called CMFB-EV, and other standardised components to electrify the Nissan Micra compact car, while Renault is expected to come up with a similar EV car based on the same platform, the sources said. The Micra EV is projected to be released by the mid-2020s.
AFFORDABLE EVs
The logo of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is seen ahead of a Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi chiefs’ joint news conference in Yokohama, Japan, March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
The automakers hope to make compact EVs as affordable as gasoline-fuelled vehicles of similar size, the sources said.
The automakers are expected to use common batteries and other key components. The alliance plans to jointly invest in capacity to produce in France, Britain, China and Japan a total of 220 gigawatt hours of battery capacity by 2030 under the plan, the sources said.
By standardising and sharing batteries, the alliance expects to halve battery manufacturing costs, they said.
The alliance is also expected to share solid-state lithium-ion battery technology, which Nissan has been developing, they said.
The plan had been for the leaders of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi to announce the 2030 plan last autumn at an event in Japan, but the announcement was postponed until this week because of a surge in COVID-19 in Japan, the sources said.
A disagreement between Nissan and Renault over the French firm’s proposals for a full-blown merger – tensions that burst into the open with the arrest of former alliance leader Carlos Ghosn in 2018 – corresponded with stalled efforts to collaborate on technology and vehicle development, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
The three automakers all have their own hybrid technologies with few shared key parts and systems. The limited cooperation in sourcing and development has raised concern within the group about the ability to achieve cost savings, one source said.
It was not immediately clear whether alliance leaders will discuss hybrids as part of their 2030 plan.
Nissan said in November it planned to spend some $18 billion over five years to accelerate vehicle electrification, launching 23 electrified vehicles – including gasoline-electric hybrids – by 2030, including 15 EVs. Half of Nissan’s vehicle mix will be electrified by 2030, including EVs and e-Power hybrids, the company said.
Renault has said its Renault brand will be 100% electric in Europe by 2030, but company officials told Reuters the target does not apply to markets outside Europe and the group’s other brands, such as Dacia.
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Reporting By Norihiko Shirouzu in Beijing; Editing by William Mallard and Kevin Krolicki
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Conceptual image of a Starship launch involving both stages of the reusable system.Image: SpaceX
Humanity’s reach into space has never been greater, with 2022 promising to be one of the most thrilling yet. Here are the space stories we’ll be watching in the coming months.
The inaugural flight of NASA’s Space Launch System
One of the most anticipated events of the year happens next spring, or so we hope. NASA will attempt the inaugural launch of its 332-foot-tall (101 meters) SLS rocket, effectively kickstarting the Artemis era. It’ll be an impressive sight, as the rocket will exert 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff—15% more than NASA’s Saturn V rocket. For this, the Artemis 1 mission, an uncrewed Orion spacecraft will travel 280,000 miles (450,000 km) to lunar orbit and promptly return to Earth.
Conceptual image showing an SLS launch. Image: NASA
Launch windows for Artemis one occur in mid-March and mid-April. A successful launch of SLS will set the stage for Artemis 2 (scheduled for 2023), in which a crewed Orion capsule will travel around the Moon and back (basically a repeat of Artemis 1, but with astronauts), and Artemis 3 (scheduled for no earlier than 2025), in which NASA astronauts will land on the Moon for the first time since 1972.
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The inaugural orbital flight of SpaceX’s Starship
SpaceX will also attempt the launch of an oversized rocket, likely in either January or February. The reusable Starship megarocket will consist of the Super Heavy Booster 4 and Starship prototype SN20, which, at a combined 394 feet (120 meters) in height, will be the tallest rocket ever built. Launching from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, the rocket will enter Earth orbit but complete less than full rotation of the planet. The booster will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, while the second stage will splash down in the Pacific near Hawaii.
The stacking of a Starship upper stage onto a Super Heavy. Photo: SpaceX
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said there’s “a lot of risk associated with this first launch,” and he’s candidly predicting a failure. That said, he believes a Starship rocket will reach orbit in 2022 and that upwards of 12 Starship launches could take place over the course of the year. Progress will be important, as SpaceX is developing the rocket to serve as the landing craft for NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions on the Moon.
Other rockets expected to make their maiden flights in 2022 include Arianespace’s Ariane 6, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur, and Mitsubishi’s H3.
The second uncrewed test of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner
Artist’s concept of a Boeing CST-100 Starliner in Earth orbit. Image: NASA/Boeing
Speaking of pressure, all eyes will be on Boeing to see if the beleaguered company will finally make progress with its CST-100 Starliner. Boeing is developing the capsule as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, but it’s now years behind schedule. A major setback occurred in October 2021, when Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) had to be scrubbed after 13 of 24 oxidizer valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system failed to open. The inaugural test of Starliner in 2019 was a total mess, making this latest incident all the more embarrassing. Boeing is now seeking to launch Starliner in May 2022, “pending spacecraft readiness and space station availability,” according to NASA.
A helicopter will attempt to catch a falling rocket booster
Photo of the rocket retrieval test done in April 2020. Image: Rocket Lab
In 2022, aerospace manufacturer Rocket Lab will attempt to catch a falling Electron rocket booster mid-air and then return it to the mainland for reuse (Rocket Lab performed a successful test of this idea in April 2020). A parachute system will slow the booster during its descent, while a special engagement line on the helicopter will enable it to capture and secure the booster. An auxiliary fuel tank will be added to the helicopter, allowing for an extended journey. Rocket Lab expects to perform this daring catch during the first half of 2022.
To the Moon!!
No humans will reach the Moon in 2022, but the same cannot be said for landers and robots, with the United States, Russia, India, and Japan all preparing for lunar missions in the coming year.
Conceptual image of the Peregrine lander. Image: NASA
Pittsburgh-based Astrobiotic is planning to send its Peregrine Lunar Lander to the Moon at some point in 2022. The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, in which the space agency contracts with commercial partners. The lander, equipped with 14 payloads of various types, will launch atop a United Launch Alliance Centaur rocket.
Houston-based Intuitive Machines, another CLPS partner, is currently planning to send its Nova-C lander to the Moon, which it expects to do during the first half of the year with the lift coming from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Nova-C will deliver 220 pounds (100 kg) worth of goods to the lunar surface.
In July 2019, India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission failed to safely deliver the Vikram lander to the lunar surface. The Indian Space Research Organization will try again during the third quarter of 2022 in what will hopefully be a successful sequel—the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Should India pull it off, it’ll become just the fourth country to successfully land a probe on the Moon (the others being the United States, Russia, and China).
In July 2022, Russia will be sending its Luna 25 lander, also known as the Luna-Glob-Lander, to the southern polar region of the Moon. The purpose of the mission is to analyze the “composition of the polar regolith, and to study the plasma and dust components of the lunar polar exosphere,” according to NASA.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) will be Japan’s first mission to the Moon. The purpose of SLIM is to test precision lunar landing capabilities, such as avoiding craters and selecting optimal locations for touchdown. The probe, developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is expected to launch at some point in 2022 and land near the Marius Hills Hole—a lunar lava tube entrance.
Another rover for the Red Planet
The European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin rover, along with Russia’s Kazachok lander, is scheduled to launch on September 29. Once at Mars, the Rosalind Franklin will collect surface samples and crush them into a fine powder. Its onboard laboratory will then perform detailed chemical, spectral, and physical analyses. The rover’s navigational capabilities should allow it to travel around 328 feet (100 meters) every Martian day, or sol.
Conceptual image of the Rosalind Franklin rover. Image: ESA
Meanwhile, we can expect new insights from NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers (and perhaps more flights of the Ingenuity helicopter), and also China’s Zhurong rover. NASA’s InSight mission will continue to operate in 2022, but this is likely to be its final year, as the stationary lander is struggling to collect solar power.
Space probes probing space
In August, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will attempt to deliver NASA’s Psyche probe to space. Its destination is 16 Psyche—a metallic asteroid containing copious amounts of nickel-iron. The asteroid “offers a unique window into the violent history of collisions and accretion that created terrestrial planets,” according to NASA. The mission could shed new light on the composition and age of Psyche’s surface, and the conditions under which it formed. Data from the probe will also be used to create a detailed map of the asteroid’s surface. The Psyche probe is expected to reach the asteroid in January 2026.
Conceptual image of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. Illustration: NASA
The same launch of the Falcon Heavy will deliver two smallsats for NASA, but they’re headed elsewhere. Known as the Janus project, the dual spacecraft will explore two binary asteroids, (175706) 1996 FG3 and (35107) 1991 VH. Daniel Scheeres, the principal investigator of the project and an astronomer at the University of Colorado, says binary asteroids “are one class of objects for which we don’t have high-resolution scientific data,” as all existing observations come from ground telescopes, “which don’t give you as much detail as being up close.” Janus, in addition to furthering our understanding of the early solar system, could also inform planetary defense measures. It’ll take four years for the probes to reach their destinations.
Conceptual images of the Janus dual-spacecraft. Image: Lockheed Martin
Probes already launched to space will continue to do their work. NASA’s Juno spacecraft will perform a close fly-by of Jupiter’s moon Europa on September 29, after which time its orbital period around the gas giant will be reduced from 43 to 38 days. The Parker Solar Probe, also managed by NASA, will perform four flybys of the Sun in 2022, as it gets increasingly closer to our host star.
In addition, the $10 billion Webb Space Telescope, set to launch on Christmas Day 2021, will travel to its special spot in space—Lagrange Point 2 (an area of space where gravity from the Sun and Earth balance the orbital motion of an object). Once at L2, and after Webb’s instruments are successfully deployed, we’ll finally get to see Webb’s first view of the cosmos.
Astronomical happenings
No total solar eclipse will happen in 2022, but there will be two partial solar eclipses. The first happens on April 30, when the partial eclipse will be visible from the southern portions of South America, and the second will occur on October 25 and be visible to skywatchers in Europe and parts of northern Africa (weather permitting, of course).
A partial lunar eclipse on May 15/16 will be visible in parts of North America and all of South America, while a partial lunar eclipse on November 7/8 will appear primarily over the Pacific Ocean, with western parts of North America and eastern Asia also catching a glimpse.
So buckle up and grab some kool-aid—looks like we’ve got another amazing year in space ahead.
The theme at the upcoming Rebelle Rally seems to be retro this year. Nissan has joined Mitsubishi in yearning for the glory days with its own throwback livery that the carmaker’s team, Wild Grace, will run on their 2022 Frontier Pro-4x. It’s a decent attempt to stir up good memories but it really just makes me miss the Nissan Hardbody that much more.
The Toyota Pickup usually gets all the attention when we consider old-school, (truly) compact pickups, but I think the Hardbody is easily just as cool. Its squared-off, stubby hood and low slung headlights gave the little truck a bit of an attitude, even with those big, friendly lights. And when the Hardbody wears its colorful rally livery, it’s just glorious!
Photo: Nissan
The colors remind me of the Bronco 4600, which was another attempt at paying homage, but from Ford. I said it then; I’ll say it now. Chrome wheels are overdue for a comeback. Nissan’s champion Hardbody just provides more proof that you can’t just wrap an off-roader in bold, primary colors and then mute its lower half with black or dark-colored wheels! And while we’re at it, why aren’t painted bumpers a thing? Holy shit, look at that blue bumper.
The ’22 Frontier is a vastly more capable machine, but next to the Hardbody it just looks boring. The following is what Nissan threw on its new rally-running pickup to set it apart from its stock Pro-4X counterparts, and to beef it up for the competition:
You can catch the new Frontier ripping up the rally stage starting on October 7. The competition will run for eight days, and will cover more than 1,500 miles of desert in Arizona, California and Nevada. Follow it here.