Nissan Motor, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors will share a common electric vehicle platform hoping to come out with a plug-in priced at about 2 million yen ($17,000), around 20 per cent lower than today's starting price, Nikkei newspaper reported.

The strategy comes as Germany's Volkswagen and Japan's Toyota Motor are refocusing their efforts on electric vehicles in line with more stringent environmental regulations being introduced worldwide.

Under the new strategy, Renault and Mitsubishi, new to the Nissan alliance, in 2018 will no longer develop their own electric car platforms and instead exclusively use the Leaf platform, the report said.

The companies will share key components such as batteries, motors and inverters so aiming to lower costs by making joint purchases from suppliers.