Sustainable cars: Nissan focuses on aluminum

Nissan bet on aluminum to reduce CO2 emissions. The Japanese brand is constantly looking for new solutions to make all vehicles and the production process more sustainable: steel, which has already been used in the automotive world for some time, is the choice of the Yokohama house.

The current Qashqai is the first Nissan model to be produced in Europe with a large proportion of lightweight aluminum alloy. The doors, bonnet and front fascia are pressed from aluminum alloy, making the Qashqai’s body lighter than others. 60kg compared to the previous version. The difference in weight makes it more efficient in terms of production and fuel consumption and allows to focus on more technologies, including new electric engines.

Aluminum recycling saves 90% of energy

Added to all this is a new production process in the English factory of Sunderland. The Japanese brand has invested more than 60 million euros to build a second line of larger plants and a cyclone separation plant for aluminum recycling, capable of handling seven tons of metal per hour and producing high-quality scrap. Scrap is obtained from suppliers, who in turn convert it into new aluminum alloy sheets which are fed back into the Sunderland plant’s production lines. In this way the production process is more sustainable: CO2 production and reduced waste represent a further step towards the carbon neutrality that Nissan wants to achieve with the company’s activities and in the product life cycle by 2050. Equally good aluminum recycling saves more. more than 90% of the energy that would be needed to produce the same amount of paper using raw materials.

Leaves produced with zero emissions using solar energy

Solar garden extension of Sunderland plant a 25MW it makes it possible to offset more than 50% of the energy used by the factory and emit zero emissions for every Nissan Leaf sold in Europe. In addition, the Japanese company has other ambitious plans for the British plant: it will not only be Nissan’s European pillar for sustainable mobility, but also the world’s first Electric Vehicle Center based on a zero-emission ecosystem.

Target net neutrality by 2050

As mentioned, Nissan aims to be carbon neutral in all its activities and in the life cycle of its products by 2050. This means that CO2 emissions in the atmosphere must be zero in all processes: from the extraction of raw materials, to the production of cars and components, the use of cars. on the road, recycling or reusing end-of-life vehicles. To hit the target, out 2030 going forward the Japanese company will only sell electric vehicles in major markets. The new Ariya electric SUV has been added to the Leaf, which will be followed by new models produced on the CMF-EV platform.