LG Chem supplies batteries for EV maker

The U.S.-based electric vehicle maker start-up Faraday Future's first concept car, the single-seat FFZERO1, is displayed during the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, January. LG Chem has recently reached a battery supply deal worth 2.7 trillion won ($2.4 billion) with Faraday Future. / Yonhap

By Jhoo Dong-chan

LG Chem, the nation's largest electric vehicle (EV) battery maker, is set to supply batteries for Faraday Future, a Chinese-invested American startup focusing on the development of intelligent EVs.

According to industry observers, Tuesday, LG Chem has reportedly struck a supply deal worth 2.7 trillion won ($2.4 billion) with Faraday Future. The companies reached an agreement in August, but the announcement was postponed due to the Korean government's recent decision to deploy the U.S., the Terminal High Altitude of Area Defense, here.

Faraday Future had a sensational debut earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 in Las Vegas with its first concept car, the single-seat FFZERO1, emerging as a possible rival to Tesla Motors.

The FFZERO1 gained a great deal of attention with its futuristic design and high-performance driving that can produce a maximum 1,000 horsepower and go from 0-100 kilometers per hour in 3 seconds. Faraday Future boasted that the Batmobile-looking model is expected to have 15 percent higher specific energy than a Tesla Model S.

Headquartered in Gardena, California, Faraday Future is currently invested by LeEco, a Chinese consumer electronics and Internet company led by Jia Yueting, which offers media content service similar to Netflix.

It is pushing ahead with its plan to test its autonomous drive technologies in the state of Michigan, and is also expected to participate in the Formula E Championship, a class of auto racing that uses only electric-powered cars.

LG Chem built a battery manufacturing plant in Nanjing last October, producing batteries that could equip 50,000 EVs per year. The world's third-largest EV battery maker aims to expand its annual production capacity to equip 200,000 EVs by 2020.

Faraday Future attempted to build its manufacturing and assembly plant in the U.S. earlier only to fail. Like LG Chem, instead, the start-up EV maker plans to build a plant in Huzhou in the Chinese province of Zhejiang.

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