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| Officials from SK Innovation and Hyundai Motor Group pose after signing an agreement to jointly develop batteries for hybrid electric vehicles at the latter's research center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Courtesy of SK Innovation |
By Baek Byung-yeul
SK Innovation and Hyundai Motor Group are strengthening their partnership with the two agreeing Friday to jointly develop hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) batteries.
In a press release, SK Innovation said it will develop pouch-style battery cells that Hyundai Motor and Kia will use in their hybrid cars to be released in 2024.
With more EVs on the road, carmakers are increasingly seeking to forge alliances with battery makers to secure a stable supply chain for EV batteries and reduce investment costs.
"In order to manufacture batteries optimized for future vehicles, the two will closely cooperate with each other from product design to evaluation and performance improvement," they said in a joint press release.
HEVs are powered by a combustion engine and an electric motor, which uses electricity stored in batteries. Unlike plug-in EVs that can be recharged from an external source of electricity, HEVs are charged through regenerative braking.
SK Innovation has worked closely with Hyundai for over a decade. In 2010, SK supplied battery cells for the Hyundai BlueOn, the country's first pure electric car, and Kia's Ray EV, the first mass-produced battery electric car.
The company has also supplied batteries for Hyundai and Kia's latest EV models ― the Ioniq 5 and the EV6 ― that are based on the automotive group's E-GMP modular EV platform.
