South Korea's 'Battery Latecomer Policy' 10 Years Behind Schedule

Japan Leads Next-Generation All-Solid-State Battery Commercialization‥China Takes Lead in Spent Battery Recycling

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] Although the government has announced a secondary battery development plan focusing on next-generation batteries and recycling of used batteries, criticism is emerging that the 'substance' has been taken by Japan and China, leaving only a hollow 'belated policy.'

On the 17th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reported a work plan centered on the early commercialization of next-generation solid-state batteries and a pilot project for electric vehicle battery leasing at the '2020 Joint Government Work Report' held at the Blue House State Guest House, presided over by President Moon Jae-in.

The solid-state battery, whose development policy was announced by the Ministry of Industry on the same day, is a next-generation battery with a value-added level dozens of times higher than existing liquid-type batteries. It is gaining attention as a battery for electric vehicles due to its greatly improved safety, efficiency, and capacity, as well as its resistance to external heat and shocks. Accordingly, the government stated that it plans to support the commercialization and technology development of next-generation solid-state batteries through funding of 4.7 billion KRW this year.

However, the industry judges that the leadership in the next-generation solid-state battery field has already shifted to Japan. It is evaluated that without organized, systematic, and large-scale government support, it is currently impossible to catch up technologically.

Japan will be the first in the world to commercialize an electric vehicle equipped with a solid-state battery developed directly by Toyota this year. This is the result of boldly skipping investment in liquid-type secondary batteries and proactively investing in the solid-state battery field. An industry insider said, "With current Korean technology, commercialization of solid-state batteries is only possible in about 10 years," adding, "While we are still in the early research stage, Japan has already reached the commercialization stage."

The electric vehicle battery leasing and battery reuse sectors, which the Ministry of Industry also identified as key development areas, have also seen leadership shift to Chinese companies. For the electric vehicle battery leasing industry to be activated, an ecosystem must be established where leasing companies can recycle collected batteries to ensure profitability.

It is also necessary to build a systematic battery collection system centered on partners with specialized used battery recycling technology and local governments. However, in recent years, many domestic companies possessing battery recycling technology have been acquired by Chinese companies, causing the used battery ecosystem to wither before it could even be activated.

An industry official said, "While we failed to pay attention to the used battery sector, China has been fostering specialized used battery companies in each province under government leadership for the past 10 years, reaching an unapproachable level now. We are late, very late," adding, "It is regrettable that the remaining used battery recycling technology has almost entirely gone to China as domestic companies were acquired."