Korea bets big on sodium and solid-state tech to reclaim battery dominance
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Facing a sharp slowdown in global electric vehicle demand and fierce price competition from Chinese rivals, Korea is overhauling its battery strategy to recapture its edge in the global market.
At a high-level industry summit held Tuesday at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul, officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy met with executives from top battery giants, including LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On. Together, they unveiled the nation’s official Battery Technology Roadmap, outlining a massive public-private push focused on next-generation chemistries and dramatic cost reductions.
The strategic shift marks a clear departure from Korea’s long-standing reliance on high-nickel NCM (nickel-cobalt-manganese) cells. While premium NCM batteries established Korean manufacturers as global leaders in high-performance electric vehicles, Chinese rivals have rapidly gained market share by flooding global supply chains with low-cost lithium iron phosphate alternatives.
To counter this squeeze, Korea is pivoting toward a "select and concentrate" strategy. The government plans to launch a 400 billion won ($300 million) state-backed research and development program spanning 2027 to 2031. In response, private manufacturers have committed 8 trillion won in research and facility investments through 2030.
At the center of this blueprint are two emerging technologies: sodium-ion and solid-state batteries.
Sodium-ion batteries, which replace scarce lithium with abundant, inexpensive sodium, are slated to become Korea's flagship budget technology. The road map targets a performance benchmark of 160 watt-hours per kilogram by 2027, pushing for full commercialization with a 220 Wh/kg energy density by 2030.
Concurrently, Korea is accelerating development on the high end with solid-state cells, widely considered the holy grail of battery technology for their fire resistance and high energy density. The government expects to launch the world’s first solid-state prototypes by 2027, complete 400 Wh/kg development by 2028 and reach full commercialization by 2030, targeting advanced applications such as commercial EVs, robotics, drones and urban air mobility.
Beyond chemistry, the initiative introduces unprecedented cross-industry collaboration.
Major cell manufacturers will pool efforts on noncompetitive standards — such as unifying pouch and prismatic cell dimensions — to eliminate redundant investments. Automobile manufacturers will also feed battery management system data directly back to cell makers to speed up performance improvements.
To ease immediate cost pressures, the government plans to introduce production tax credits starting in 2027 while building a circular recycling system aligned with strict European regulations.
"To navigate changing market dynamics and supply chain uncertainties, public and private sectors must execute as one team," said Lee Min-woo, head of the ministry's industrial growth bureau, speaking at the morning gathering. "Through aggressive research and development funding and policy support, we will ensure K-batteries decisively reclaim their global dominance."
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.