Nissan Pulls Plug on Battery Plant Grand Opening

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tours the Nissan battery plant in 2011. Photo credit Blake Farmer/WPLN

The grand opening of Nissan’s new electric car battery plant in Smyrna has been cancelled. A spokesperson for the automaker says scheduling conflicts have been encountered “among key stakeholders.”

The plant quietly started producing lithium-ion batteries last month, according to the company. And the first Nissan Leaf made in the U.S. is still supposed to roll off the nearby assembly line around the first of the year.

Nissan received a $1.4 billion loan from the federal government to build the battery plant and retool an existing vehicle production line.

There have been big media events along the way. Nissan’s global CEO Carlos Ghosn attended the groundbreaking in 2010 with a laundry list of VIPs. Last year, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood toured the battery plant as it was under construction. At this time, a Nissan spokesman says there are no plans to reschedule a grand opening.