It was a nice dream and most people likely thought it would work out given the general sentiment in the automotive industry, but upcoming moves by Nissan point to a reduction in battery production. This will, of course, lead to a reduction in Leaf EVs produced.
Many inside the company are against the move, but the economics point towards it being a good idea. They haven't taken off the way many expected and they're weighing down a company that should be growing otherwise. It was a nice concept, but at the end of the day people are more willing to support electric vehicles as long as they're not the ones paying the extra price, suffering from the short range, and worrying about whether or not the places the car will travel will have the option of fueling up easily.
According to FoxBusiness:
"We set out to be a leader in battery manufacturing but it turned out to be less competitive than we'd wanted," said one executive on condition of anonymity. "We're still between six months and a year behind LG in price-performance terms."