SK wishes to resolve LG Chem lawsuit quickly
According to battery head Jee
SK Innovation wishes to quickly resolve its lawsuit with LG Chem and will continue to open channels for talks to continue, a senior executive of the company said on Tuesday.
Dongseob Jee, president of SK Innovation’s battery business, told reporters at the InterBattery 2020 tradeshow taking place in Seoul that the lawsuit between SK Innovation and LG Chem could have a negative affect on South Korea’s battery industry.
Jee said the company believes in a fast resolution on the lawsuits between the two.
US’s International Trade Commission is expected to make their final judgment on October 26 on the trade secret leak lawsuit between the pair. LG Chem has claimed that SK Innovation stole its trade secrets and used them to develop and sell their electric vehicle (EV) batteries. SK Innovation has denied this.
Jee also commented on the recent fires of Hyundai’s Kona EV, saying he hoped the cause of the fires are discovered quickly so that it doesn’t happen again. The cars use LG Chem’s batteries. At the tradeshow, both SK Innovation and LG Chem stressed safety and stability of their battery products.
On whether SK Innovation will split-off its battery business like LG Chem has, Jee said there were benefits both in splitting-off the business and retaining it but added that nothing was decided on the matter.
Jee also stressed that SK Innovation will push NCM9½½ (nickel, cobalt and manganese in 9 to 0.5 to 0.5 ratio) cathode batteries while continuing to increase the portion of nickel in them.
The company is aiming to increase nickel’s portion from 88% to 98% by 2030. This will be different from LG Chem’s push for NCMA (aluminum is added to NCM), people familiar with the matter said.