samsung sdi

Volvo inks battery packs alliance with Samsung SDI

Volvo Group president and CEO Martin Lundstedt

Volvo is to jointly develop lithium-ion battery packs for its commercial vehicles under a new partnership with Samsung SDI.

The Sweden-based vehicle manufacturer said the alliance with Samsung would help to “accelerate the speed of development and strengthen the long-term capabilities and assets within electromobility”.

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Lithium-ion

commercial vehicles

Hungary woos another Asian battery maker

Inzi Controls, a South Korean automotive company, is to build an electric vehicles battery plant in Hungary.

The company will build the plant in the city of Komárom, backed by a HUF1.6 billion (US$5.6 million) grant from Hungary’s government, foreign affairs and trade minister Peter Szijjarto (pictured) confirmed.

Tesvolt races to claim European gigafactory first

German lithium battery storage firm Tesvolt says it is in pole position to open Europe’s first battery storage gigafactory, as it prepares to launch expanded manufacturing operations in Germany.

Tesvolt did not announce a date for completing production lines at its new Lutherstadt Wittenberg facility, but said the plant will have an eventual annual production capacity of more than 1GWh and an initial 12,000m² of floor space will be available next month— when production at an existing adjacent facility will switch to the new plant.

Tesvolt

prismatic lithium battery cells

Second Korean collaboration for BMZ Group

BMZ's Sven Bauer and Samsung SDI's Michael Son at the contract signing

Germany’s BMZ Group and South Korea’s Samsung SDI have entered a long-term cooperation agreement to jointly promote the expansion of electromobile applications in the European market.

Karlstein-based BMZ said Samsung SDI, “one of the world's largest cell manufacturers, will rely in the future on BMZ as system supplier for battery systems, integration and software”.

enhanced lithium nickel oxide battery materials

Battery giants back Korean R&D investment fund

Three South Korean battery giants have signed up to an agreement to support the launch of a government-backed “next-generation batteries investment fund”.

Samsung SDI, LG Chem and SK Innovation have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to support the KRW1 billion (US$885,000) fund, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) said.

The signing comes a year after South Korea’s government said it would support plans to expand domestic battery production and challenge China’s increasing dominance of the global market.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

Doosan follows Korean battery firms to Hungary with copper foil plant

The Doosan Corporation has become the latest Korean player beating a path to Hungary to compete for a slice of Europe’s electric vehicle battery components business.

The company is to start building a battery-grade copper foil manufacturing plant in Tatabánya, northwestern Hungary this year— and begin producing 50,000 tons of the material annually from mid-2019.

German utility banks on Tesvolt for storage

German lithium BESS firm Tesvolt has been selected as the large commercial energy storage systems provider by north German utility Wemag.

Wemag has already started distributing Tesvolt’s systems across the country under the partnership, Tesvolt said.

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younicos

Seoul presses Beijing on ‘fair deal’ for battery makers

South Korea has called on China to ensure “a fair business environment” for battery manufacturers to compete for business across the two countries.

South Korea’s trade minister Paik Un-gyu (pictured) made the plea during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Miao Wei in Seoul, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Association of Automobile Manufacturers

Volkswagen ‘to buy EUR20bn of batteries from Asia’

Volkswagen has reportedly earmarked EUR20 billion ($25bn) to buy in lithium batteries for its electric vehicle business from China’s CATL, South Korea’s LG Chem and Samsung SDI.

China’s state Xinhua News Agency said the move was agreed by VW at its annual general meeting in Berlin— although BBB could not independently confirm the report.

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LG Chem

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CATL