If electric cars are the future—and automakers seem to increasingly think so—many things will change.
One is that we won’t need spark plugs to ignite gasoline in internal combustion engines, which seems fine to you and me, but not to a top auto-parts manufacturer like Japan’s 83-year-old NGK Spark Plugs.
In 2010, when Nissan brought its all-electric Leaf to the market, NGK Spark Plugs’ leaders realized that it was only a matter of time before their most important business would disappear, and they needed a new plan to stay viable in the era of the electric vehicle. They didn’t anticipate that would lead them to a partnership with ispace, a Japanese space company, to send a robot to the moon.
If electric cars are the future—and automakers seem to increasingly think so—many things will change.
One is that we won’t need spark plugs to ignite gasoline in internal combustion engines, which seems fine to you and me, but not to a top auto-parts manufacturer like Japan’s 83-year-old NGK Spark Plugs.
In 2010, when Nissan brought its all-electric Leaf to the market, NGK Spark Plugs’ leaders realized that it was only a matter of time before their most important business would disappear, and they needed a new plan to stay viable in the era of the electric vehicle. They didn’t anticipate that would lead them to a partnership with ispace, a Japanese space company, to send a robot to the moon.
If electric cars are the future—and automakers seem to increasingly think so—many things will change.
One is that we won’t need spark plugs to ignite gasoline in internal combustion engines, which seems fine to you and me, but not to a top auto-parts manufacturer like Japan’s 83-year-old NGK Spark Plugs.
In 2010, when Nissan brought its all-electric Leaf to the market, NGK Spark Plugs’ leaders realized that it was only a matter of time before their most important business would disappear, and they needed a new plan to stay viable in the era of the electric vehicle. They didn’t anticipate that would lead them to a partnership with ispace, a Japanese space company, to send a robot to the moon.
On the lunar surface, temperatures can range from -280°F (-173°C) at night to 260°F (127°C) in the daytime. NGK Spark Plugs’ hope is that the battery will prove its ability to perform in an incredibly extreme environment, and help the company stand out in a market crowded with rivals trying to solve the energy-storage problem.
NGK Spark Plugs has also worked on rockets flown by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and a huge energy storage project in the Arabian desert. The moon is apparently a natural next step.
Source: qz
