SK breaks ground on Li-ion battery plant in S. Korea
31 May 2011
Chosun Ilbo. SK Innovation has broken ground for an automotive Li-ion battery plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea.
Scheduled to be completed next year, the W250 billion facility will be able to produce batteries for some 25,000 electric vehicles per year (US$1=W1,080). They will be supplied to Hyundai Motor for its BlueOn subcompact, Mercedes-Benz for the SLS AMG E-Cell sports car and Mitsubishi Fuso for hybrid trucks.
SK will face stiff competition from LG Chem and SB LiMotive. LG completed a plant at the Ochang Industrial Complex in North Chungcheong Province in April, which is capable of producing batteries for 100,000 EVs a year, and currently supplies batteries for GM’s Volt and the hybrid versions of the Hyundai Sonata and Kia K5. As it has also signed deals with Ford, Renault and Volvo, the facility will be expanded to an annual production capacity of 350,000 EVs by 2013.
SB LiMotive, a joint venture between Samsung SDI and German auto parts maker Bosch, supplies batteries to BMW for its ActiveE electric car.
More competition the better for electrified vehicle batteries.
Posted by: HarveyD | 31 May 2011 at 07:06 AM
"batteries for some 25,000 electric vehicles per year"
That is good output but in the LG plants we see...
"batteries for 100,000 EVs a year"
and then we read...
"annual production capacity of 350,000 EVs by 2013"
The Korean government is usually involved in the next big thing. You notice GM and Ford using them as suppliers while our politicians go on photo ops at pilot U.S. plants.
Posted by: SJC | 31 May 2011 at 01:55 PM