LG Energy Solution expands technology lead
LG Energy Solution researchers pose with the company's battery cells at its R&D center in Daejeon, in this photo provided by the company, Wednesday. / Courtesy of LG Energy Solution
LG Energy Solution (LGES) has been widening its technology lead over competitors, as the top electric vehicle (EV) battery maker has been investing heavily in developing its own technologies related to making batteries.
Logo for LG Energy Solution
The company said Wednesday it has invested in around 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in research and development (R&D) of battery technologies over the past six years.
Thanks to its efforts, LG Energy Solution has secured 23,610 patents as of the end of 2020, which is the largest number among global battery makers and 10 times more than its closest Chinese competitor.
LG started to pay attention to the growth potential of its battery business and has performed R&D efforts over the past 30 years. In 1995, the company started research activities for lithium-ion batteries and succeeded in mass production in 1999.
In 2009, LG was chosen as sole supplier of battery cells for General Motors' Chevrolet Volt EV. The sales of the spun off battery unit, renamed LGES, surpassed 10 trillion won in 2020, a first among battery makers in Korea, and it aims to generate annual sales of over 30 trillion won by 2024.
LG Energy Solution said this achievement was possible thanks to its best-in-class technological capabilities.
The company is capable of producing advanced cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator materials, and has safety reinforced separator (SRS) technology to produce safer separators. It also has distinguished battery-manufacturing technologies, as its lamination and stacking process minimizes dead space and enables higher energy capacity than the typical winding process.
To further widen its lead, LG Energy Solution will provide NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum) battery cells to carmakers for the first time in the battery industry in the second half of 2021. The company said its NCMA batteries will be made of 90 percent nickel while the percentage of cobalt is below five percent.
The high nickel percentage brings up energy density and enables EVs to travel farther distances, but also increases the risk of explosion. LG Energy Solution said it resolved the risk by enhancing safety of its NCMA batteries utilizing the company's patented technologies.
LG Energy Solution also lowered battery costs by reducing the use of cobalt and substituting this with aluminum, which is known to balance out instability that may arise in the high-energy-density cathode.
Based on its advanced technology, LG Energy Solution has provided its batteries to more than 20 carmakers around the world. Especially, 13 of 20 top global automotive companies are using the company's battery cells and its backlog of battery orders is worth around 150 trillion won.
“LG Energy Solution has dominated the global battery market because it has continuously invested in R&D during the past 30 years to secure valuable intellectual properties,” an LG Energy Solution official said.
(Advertorial)