YOKOHAMA, Japan, April 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Nissan

Motor ( NSANF ) will begin to produce solid-state batteries for

electric vehicles at scale by early 2029 and use huge casting

machines as it seeks to raise efficiency and drive down costs on

future models, the automaker said on Tuesday.

Nissan ( NSANF ) is betting on technological advancements to stave off

heavy competition from rivals such as Tesla and BYD

that have raced ahead in production of

battery-powered cars.

Japan's third-biggest automaker by volume will initially do

prototype tests and develop the solid-state batteries at a still

unfinished pilot plant in Yokohama, a city near Tokyo where it

is based, before building up production capacity. Solid-state

batteries are expected to charge faster and last longer than

conventional ones.

Nissan ( NSANF ) expects to make its first solid-state batteries at

the site from March 2025 and will deploy 100 workers per shift

to step up production to 100 megawatt hours per year from the

financial year starting April 2028.

The automaker will also use heavy-force machines to produce

the rear floors of EVs to be sold from a year earlier, a process

that will lower manufacturing costs by 10% and bring down weight

of components by 20%, it said.

Nissan ( NSANF ) has used casting boards for structural parts of front

air conditioners for over 15 years at its Tochigi plant, said

Hideyuki Sakamoto, executive vice president for manufacturing

and supply chain management.

The automaker considered various things for manufacturing

car bodies, he added. "In the end, we decided to use a 6,000

tonnes gigacasting machine to make the rear body structure of

cars using aluminium casting."

Nissan ( NSANF ) plans to launch 30 new models over the next three

years. Of those, 16 will be electrified, including eight

all-battery powered vehicles and four plug-in hybrids.

The automaker, which was a pioneer in EVs with its

all-battery-powered Leaf, now seeks to bring down the cost of

the next generation of such vehicles by 30% to make them

comparable to internal combustion engine models by 2030.

Nissan ( NSANF ) is considering a strategic partnership with larger

domestic rival Honda Motor ( HMC ) to work together on making

key components for EVs and artificial intelligence in automotive

software platforms, the companies said last month.