Nissan goes electric

Article Excerpt

NISSAN MOTOR $12.87 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; SI Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissanmotors.com; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $29.1 billion) has been granted $1.6 billion in low-interest loans by the U.S. Department of Energy. Nissan plans to use the funds to equip its plant in Tennessee to make more than 100,000 all-electric cars a year, plus 200,000 lithium-ion batteries to power them, by 2013. The company will unveil its electric car this summer, and plans to begin making the five-passenger sedans in Japan in the fall of 2010. Nissan plans to start with 50,000 vehicles a year, and will import them into the U.S. until the expansion of the Tennessee plant is finished. The company expects to sell its electric car at a price that is comparable with that of a gasoline-powered car. Nissan Motor is still a buy. buy…