Nissan aims to make hybrid cars more affordable by 2026. Here's how

Nissan said that it would overhaul its approach to electrified powertrains for its pure electric and petrol-hybrid vehicles. The Japanese car brand has further stated that this move aims to bring down the costs of hybrid vehicles at par with the pure petrol-driven models by 2026. With this move, the hybrid cars from the brand would be more affordable, as the automaker has hinted, reports Reuters.

Nissan stated that it would use the same automotive components across its models in a bid to make the electric powertrains, the assembly which propels a vehicle, smaller and lighter than the ones used now. This would help the automaker to reduce development and production costs by 30 per cent within three years as compared to 2019.

Besides that, Nissan also vowed to use solid-state batteries with materials that are cheaper than those currently used, such as nickel and cobalt. These solid-state batteries with cheaper materials will make their way into the future electrified cars from Nissan. Nissan's senior vice president Toshihiro Hirai reportedly said that the materials that are used in current batteries are expensive, resulting in higher costs for EV batteries. "Materials that don't use such expensive precious metals are being developed, which will be a major factor in reducing costs," Hirai said.

Interestingly, Nissan is not the only automaker that is exploring ways to make electrified vehicles affordable. Several other global auto majors have been trying to adopt different methods to achieve a similar goal, like reducing the cost of electric powertrains, which are yet to achieve parity with those used in traditional fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Hirai reportedly also said that Nissan will start to equip its micro and mid-sized cars with streamlined powertrains from 2024 or 2025. This strategy of introducing smaller and lighter powertrains would improve the vehicles' performance by making them stable on different landscapes, claimed the automaker.