Nissan's Yokohama Plant Builds 40-Millionth Engine, Ready For EV Future

Nissan's Yokohama Plant has produced its 40-millionth engine this year, the same year the automaker celebrates its 90th anniversary. The plant opened two years after the company was founded, beginning operations in 1935. Since then, the factory has produced some groundbreaking engines.

In 1979, the factory began making the L20ET, the country's first turbocharged engine for a passenger car that powered the Fairlady Z and other model lines. Four years later, in 1983, Japan's first mass-produced V6 began rolling off the assembly line. In 2007, employees started to build the company's VC Turbo engines with variable compression ratio technology.

It took until 1976 before the factory made 10 million engines. Ten years later, it had produced 20 million and crossed the 30-millionth milestone in 1997. 

Today, the plant also builds Nissan's VR38DETT engine for the GT-R, which Nissan updated for the 2024 model year. The company gave the supercar refreshed styling, with the twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 engine producing 565 horsepower in the standard model.

The GT-R Nismo delivers 600 hp and features a host of upgrades like carbon fiber, better brakes, and other tweaks as Nissan charges $100,000 more for the Nismo compared to the entry-level GT-R Premium spec that starts at $122,885 (price includes the $1,895 destination charge). The GT-R T-Spec offers some of the Nismo upgrades but begins at a much more affordable $142,885.

While the VR38DETT engine is a mighty power plant, the Yokohama factory is already focused on the industry's electrified future. Nissan began building electric motors at the facility in 2010 with the launch of the Leaf. While reports indicate Nissan is discontinuing the model, the automaker has other EVs in production, like the Ariya, and in development.

Earlier this year, the automaker updated its electrification plan from 2021, increasing the number of electrified and fully electric vehicles it plans to offer by 2030. By the decade's end, Nissan could have 19 new EVs and 27 new electrified ones in its lineup.

In 2022, electric motors accounted for about 40 percent of Yokohama Plant's total production, but that's not all the factory will produce. Starting next year, Nissan will open a pilot line in the plant to develop solid-state batteries, with the goal to begin mass-producing them by the middle of 2028. They could power models from Renault and Mitsubishi as the alliance plans to develop 35 new EVs together.

Ninety percent of the new models will ride on five common platforms covering different market segments. We'll see the fruits of this effort as soon as next year with the launch of the Nissan Micra replacement. The platform will also underpin the Renault R5.