The reason behind the use of LG Chem batteries in its next version of LEAF is apparently linked to Nissan’s failed AESC sale transaction. Nissan had confirmed in September 2017 that it was selling AESC to China-based private investment fund based GSR Capital, reportedly for approximately 100 billion yen ($903 million).
As per a Nikkei report, GSR Capital has recently informed Nissan that it could not put the money together for buying AESC, which is also partly owned by NEC, and was one of the biggest manufacturers of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) a few years back.
2017/8/15 日産自動車とNEC、バッテリー事業を譲渡 付記
Due to the uncertainty related to the future of AECS, Nissan in planning to use LG Chem batteries in the 2019 version of the LEAF.
Towards that end, Nissan had showed at en earlier-this-year presentation that it has preparations underway for a powertrain update for the 2019 LEAF version. The automaker had revealed that the update would equip the next LEAF with a new 60 kWh battery pack comprising LG Chem cells.