Category: Samsung

In order to acquire the dominance and leadership in Chinese EV market, Samsung SDI became the first global battery manufacturer to construct an EV battery plant and initiate mass production in China, beating LG Chem who broke ground on a similar plant in China a year ago.

The Xi’an plant has initiated its operation from September. It has finalized battery supply agreements with 10 local personal and commercial vehicle companies and is already delivering the goods. Some of these companies include Yutong, the leader of China’s and also the world’s bus industry and then Foton, the leader of China’s truck industry.

The finalized Samsung SDI Xi’an Plant is a cutting-edge production line that can manufacture high-performance electric vehicle (in standard of pure EVs) batteries for an amount of approximately 40 thousand cars a year. The plant is capable of carrying out the whole production process of EV battery cells and modules. Preparing for increased market demand in the future, Samsung SDI will invest – by adding production line, etc. – 600 million USD into the Xi’an battery plant until 2020 and aim to achieve 1 billion USD in sales.

Samsung SDI CEO Cho Nam Seong said in his welcoming address, “Xi’an is a starting point of Silk Road and is also a focal point of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative.” He added, “To go hand in hand with China’s time-honored tradition and future development strategy, we will bring up Xi’an plant to become the world center of EV battery industry.”

Anqing Ring New Group Chairman Pan Yi Xin said, “By integrating our expertise in the automotive business with Samsung SDI’s advanced technical capability, we will promote Xi’an Plant as the number one production base of EV battery.”

Following the trend confirmed by VW Group for flat battery packs (re: Tesla) with the Porsche Mission-E, Audi e-tron SUV & Volkswagen EV Microbus announcements, Samsung SDI said Wednesday that it is seeking to gain new momentum in its battery business by promoting its Low Pack batteries at this year's auto show in the German city of Frankfurt.

In a statement, SDI said the battery pack will have a huge influence on the surface design of electric vehicles (EVs) as global carmakers are looking at battery performance of the different battery suppliers.

In addition to batteries, materials to be used in EVs were also exhibited during the major European auto fair. Samsung SDI Battery Systems (SDIBS), a new name after SDI's acquisition of Magna in May, also attended the annual event.

"The Low Pack battery has drastically reduced the height of battery packs, helping carmakers get more flexibility when they design stylish EVs and want to change the structure of EVs," said its spokesman Seo Hae-su.

Even small changes in battery pack design impact the optimum size of the motors, brakes and suspension. Until battery performance is locked down, any design the car makers come up with rests, in a sense, on quicksand.

Seo declined to comment about which carmakers were talking with the Samsung Group's battery affiliate.

The statement said SDI installed an independent booth for the show to promote the company's latest battery packs and materials.

At the 66th show, top European carmakers including Audi are expected to steal the limelight with much-awaited electric sedans and electric SUV concept cars.

"With SDI's full battery cell lineup, the company is exhibiting standardized modules to be used in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. SDI is the only major battery maker worldwide that will be participating in the show," Seo said, adding that he will talk with existing and new car producers to win more orders.

SDI has secured more than 30 orders to supply battery packs to global car makers since the Samsung affiliate jumped into the market in 2009. SDI said 50 percent of the orders came from the European market.

In addition to batteries, SDI is displaying engineering plastic products for automobile exterior and interior design, and metallic materials to reduce the weight of cars.

Seo said SDI is on track to improve its battery technology to better compete with its chief rivals LG Chem and Panasonic of Japan.

Audi, a key customer for SDI, will show its Audi e-tron Quattro concept at the fair to provide a hint of the future of the brand's sporty electric SUVs. Along with the new lithium-ion batteries supplied by LG Chem and Samsung SDI, EVs should have a range of 500 kilometers on a single charge.

As the show highlights the popularity of SUVs rather than sedans, thanks to the European market's shift to favor new luxury SUVs, SDI is eyeing new growth opportunities for batteries in SUVs, said analysts.

During the fair, Bentley's most luxurious SUV will be exhibited; and Jaguar is entering the market with the F-Pace, the first SUV by the sports car brand.

Samsung researchers have developed materials that double the power capacity of lithium-ion batteries.

Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) said the technology uses silicon cathode material coded with high-crystalline graphene to produce batteries with twice as much capacity as ordinary lithium-ion batteries.

The institute said the research result was published in the international science journal Nature Communication on Thursday.

The research team said the new technology is expected to enhance the performance of mobile devices and electric vehicles.

"The research has dramatically improved the capacity of lithium-ion batteries by applying a new synthesis method of high-crystalline graphene to a high-capacity silicon cathode," said Son In-hyuk, a professional researcher at SAIT. "We will continue to improve the secondary cell technology to meet the expanding demand from mobile device and electric vehicle markets."

The lithium-ion battery was introduced in 1991 and its storage capacity has been gradually improved. But the material's properties have limited improvements to capacity, failing to follow skyrocketing demand from the mobile and electric car industries.

Consequently, researchers worldwide have accelerated the development of materials for a high-capacity battery that can fundamentally overcome the limitations in graphite material.

One of them is silicon, which is expected to realize more than 10 times the power capacity compared with graphite. But the research has faced serious technological problems over drastic degradation of battery life.

SAIT said its researchers turned to graphene, a relatively new material that is physically strong and highly conductive, to solve this problem.

This material has up to four times the capacity compared with graphite and can double the energy density of ordinary lithium-ion batteries, the institute said.

Patents covering the new technology have been applied for in Korea, China, Europe and the United States.