The move comes as the carmaker looks to compete with the forthcoming Chevrolet Bolt and was announced at a media round table at the Detroit Motor Show where Mr Ghosn said electric vehicles were best compared to mobile phones and, as an emerging technology, it’s likely to develop quickly over the coming years.

‘Autonomy is going to go up, the batteries are going to get lighter, smaller and cheaper, and that’s totally normal. With the amount of investment we’re doing with our suppliers to make EV more affordable, much more convenient, much less heavy to charge etcetera, we will be competing with the 200-mile car,’ he commented.

Ghosn also said Nissan welcomes additional competition in the sector, and that brands like Tesla are helping Nissan to familiarise people with the technology: ‘The fact that other competition are coming is great, the fact that other manufacturers are doing well with electric cars is great, it’s good news for us,’ he explained.

‘EV represents such a small part of the market that we shouldn’t worry about who we are competing with. We should worry about increasing the share of the market. That’s our main concern – who can help us increase impact of the electric car on the market.’