Nissan announced that starting early in 2013, the electric motor that will power the future American-spec LEAF will be built in the United States. The motor’s home base will be the Dechard, Tennessee assembly plant and should create up to 90 new jobs. Not too far away from Nissan’s other Tennessee plant in Smyrna, Decherd will be building a brand-new assembly line for the motors that will be able to produce up to 150,000 units annually.
“Nissan’s Tennessee operations are paving the way to a zero-emission future for everyone,” said Bill Krueger, vice chairman of Nissan Americas. The plant’s refresh will be helped by a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program. Opened in 1997, the Decherd plant is a 1.2 million square foot facility that produces the majority of the powertrains found in U.S. Nissans. Once production of the new electric motors begin, the fully electric LEAF should become much more available in America. Future models will thus be ‘mostly’ American as Nissan’s Smyrna plant already builds the lithium-ion battery for the LEAF.
“By delivering motors for the first mass-produced electric vehicles manufactured in the United States, our Decherd plant will play a vital role in making zero-emission mobility a reality for American consumers,” said Krueger.
