SK ranks 8th in China’s electric car battery market
LG ranks 4th
SK Innovation has become one of the top ten electric vehicle battery suppliers in China after its local joint venture began operating a year ago.
The company supplied 0.13GWh of battery for local electric cars in January, ranking eighth, according to data from China Automobile Power Battery Industry Innovation Association.
Compatriot LG Energy Solution ranked fourth with 0.42GWh, with the majority of the battery being used for Tesla’s Model 3.
South Korean battery makers fell off the ranking after the Chinese government cut subsidies provided to them following its dispute with South Korea in 2016 over the installation of US missile defense systems.
SK Innovation operates a factory under its joint venture with Beijing Automotive Group called BEST at Changzhou. It also has a factory in Yancheng.
The Changzhou factory was finished in December 2019 and began production in January the following year. It has an annual production capacity of 7.5GWh and supplies batteries for ArcFox Alpha-T and Alpha-S manufactured by Beijing Automotive.
The Yancheng factory was completed in October last year __ once it goes into full production, SK Innovation’s ranking will likely increase further. The factory has an annual production capacity of 27GWh. It was built to supply batteries to Dongfeng Yueda Kia.
SK Innovation is planning to build another factory through its joint venture with EVE Energy, EVE Asia. It is expected too have an annual production capacity between 20GWh to 25GWh.
SK Innovation will have a combined production capacity of over 50GWh per year once all these factories are at full operation. This will be larger than any local battery makers.
Meanwhile, a total of 8.7GWh batteries for electric cars were supplied in January, a 273.9% rise year-on-year. CATL was ranked first with 4.62GWh. BYD was the runner-up with 1.13GWh. Third-place CALB supplied 0.49GWh.