Nissan sues supplier it blames for power-sapped cars

[LONDON] Nissan Motor is demanding US$145 million in damages from an Italian supplier it accuses of supplying about 900,000 faulty batteries that left customers with undercharged cars.

The Japanese car giant is suing FIAMM Energy Technology in a London court, claiming the faulty starter batteries sparked a flurry of warranty claims from disgruntled owners of UK-built Qashqai and Juke models.

FIAMM denies the allegations and insists the batteries were manufactured in accordance with specifications provided by Nissan. Instead, the cause of the failures was the "faulty design and operation" of the battery management system installed by Nissan, which was supposed to balance fuel use and battery health, according to Stephen Rosen, the company's lawyer at Collyer Bristow LLP.

Nissan didn't respond to requests for comment.

The case comes as Nissan and other automakers have started to map out electric car battery plans in Europe in recent months, a sign that competition to ensure adequate supply for their electric vehicles is heating up. UK carmakers are especially dependent on an adequate local production network to avoid tariffs when trading with the European Union.

When Nissan switched to starter batteries supplied by Johnson Controls International, three year warranty claim rates then plummeted from 43 per cent to between 0 per cent and 5 per cent, the company said in court documents.

FIAMM said this was because Nissan later optimised its system for JCI's batteries.

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