Interview: Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn Seeks Revenge for the Electric Car

As the first non-Japanese head of a Japanese automaker, Carlos Ghosn shook up the Nissan Motor Co. with his blunt, aggressive style. Now he’s made perhaps his boldest move yet: committing his company’s future — and his own considerable reputation — to the success of the new all-electric Leaf. With Nissan investing $5 billion in the development of electric vehicles, Ghosn says he has no doubt that the electric car’s moment has arrived. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Ghosn talks about why he believes electric cars will represent 10 percent of the world market by 2020; how private businesses, not governments, will provide the necessary network of public charging stations; and how China will soon become the largest market for electric vehicles. “The first cars in the industry were electric cars,” Ghosn says. “What we’re pioneering is affordable electric cars — that’s where the revolution is taking place.”

Read the interview