Jeong Eui-sun and Choi Tae-won Battery Meeting... "Sharing Directions for Battery and New Technology Development" (Comprehensive)

Jung Yong-sun and Chey Tae-won Visit SK Innovation's Seosan Plant on the 7th
Tour Battery Production Line for Niro EV Supply and Exchange Opinions
Jung: "Expanding Collaboration with Companies Possessing World-Class Technology"

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] Chung Eui-sun, Executive Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, met on the 7th at SK Innovation's Seosan plant to discuss cooperation plans in new technology fields such as next-generation electric vehicle battery technology.

At SK Innovation's Seosan plant, where he met Chairman Chey, Executive Vice Chairman Chung said, "It was a meaningful occasion to share the direction of future battery and new technology development," and emphasized, "Hyundai Motor Group will continuously strive to open a human-centered future mobility era and achieve innovation and progress for humanity."

He added, "Our employees will approach their work with a more challenging and creative attitude to satisfy customers, and we will expand collaboration with companies possessing world-class technological capabilities."

On the 7th, Chung Eui-sun, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group (right in the photo), and Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, who visited SK Innovation's Seosan plant, are shaking hands in front of the Kia Niro EV. Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

The visit included Executive Vice Chairman Chung, Albert Biermann, President of Hyundai-Kia R&D Headquarters, Kim Geol, President of the Planning and Coordination Office, Seo Bo-shin, President in charge of products, and Park Jeong-guk, President of Hyundai Mobis. From SK Group, Chairman Chey, Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, Kim Jun, President of SK Innovation, Jang Dong-hyun, President of SK Inc., and Ji Dong-seop, Head of SK Innovation Battery Business, welcomed Hyundai Motor Group's executives.

The executives of both companies shared the development direction of future new technologies such as next-generation battery technologies including high energy density, rapid charging, lithium-metal batteries, which SK Innovation is focusing on developing, as well as power semiconductors, lightweight new materials, and the battery rental and exchange service platform 'BaaS (Battery as a Service).' They exchanged opinions on cooperation plans. It is also reported that they discussed expanding electric and hydrogen vehicle charging infrastructure by utilizing SK gas stations and charging station spaces.

Hyundai Motor Group executives toured the assembly line of battery cells supplied for the Niro electric vehicle located inside SK Innovation's Seosan plant. The Seosan plant, completed in 2012, has a production capacity capable of supplying 4.7 GWh of batteries annually. SK Innovation batteries have been applied to plug-in hybrid cars produced by Hyundai-Kia and Kia's Niro and Soul EV models.

Additionally, Hyundai-Kia selected SK Innovation as the primary battery supplier for the electric vehicle dedicated platform (E-GMP) scheduled for mass production in 2021. The SK Innovation products installed in Hyundai-Kia electric vehicles based on E-GMP are next-generation high-performance lithium-ion batteries with significantly improved performance, expected to create synergy by leveraging the unique features of electric vehicle dedicated models.

Since launching its first pure electric vehicle in 2011, Hyundai-Kia has recorded cumulative domestic and international sales of approximately 280,000 units as of last month, standing out in the global electric vehicle market. According to EV Sales, a global electric vehicle specialized media, Hyundai-Kia sold 24,116 pure electric vehicles in the first quarter of this year, ranking 4th after Tesla (88,400 units), Renault-Nissan Alliance (39,355 units), and Volkswagen Group (33,846 units).

Hyundai-Kia plans to introduce a total of 44 eco-friendly vehicles by 2025, with more than half, 23 models, being pure electric vehicles. Hyundai aims to sell 560,000 electric vehicles by 2025 and targets to be among the top three companies worldwide including hydrogen electric vehicles, while Kia plans to sell 500,000 electric vehicles (excluding China) in 2026 when its electric vehicle business is expected to be fully on track.

A Hyundai Motor Group official explained, "Hyundai-Kia is researching related technologies to realize optimized battery performance necessary for the world's highest-performance electric vehicles. This visit was to review the development status of next-generation high-performance batteries to be installed in future electric vehicle dedicated models and to share the development direction of future batteries and new technologies."

An SK Group official also stated, "Today's meeting was a meaningful occasion where the two companies, which have closely cooperated in the electric vehicle and battery business fields, discussed cooperation in various new technology areas such as next-generation batteries."