South Korean battery maker LG Chem is planning to build production lines capable of producing batteries for both Electric Vehicles (EV) and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) in order to cope more flexibly with different demand situations.
Industry sources recently said that LG Chem will most likely build a pilot line at its Ochang plant for producing both types of batteries from its overseas plants, such as in China and Poland.
LG Chem is currently operating separate, exclusive lines for batteries for ESS and EVs. This is because the LG company manufactures mostly pouch type batteries that have different capacities and need to be produced as such. For instance, the batteries made for General Motor’s Volt can be used only in those EVs.
The local battery business has been hit hard by China’s unfavorable EV subsidy policies. To fight falling operation rates, some of the Korean companies had gone so far as to produce so-called European type batteries for exports.
Battery makers are also avidly testing out ways to recycle the used EV batteries for ESS, but much needs to be done before this can happen, according to industry watchers.
The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.
