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| Seen above is Hyundai Motor's concept 45 electric vehicle (EV) revealed at the International Motor Show in Germany in September, 2019. Hyundai Motor is developing a new crossover EV, codenamed NE, based on the 45 and its new EV-only platform, E-GMP. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor |
By Nam Hyun-woo
The projected partnership between Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group is expected to have a ripple effect in the electric vehicle (EV) battery market.
Multiple scenarios surfaced Thursday, a day after the leaders of the two industrial giants met to discuss solid-state EV batteries at Samsung SDI's plant in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. Though opinions are mixed on when Samsung SDI will benefit from a partnership, industry officials agreed that it would allow the company to expand its presence in the EV battery market.
Samsung and Hyundai did not reveal details about the meeting, but said Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of Samsung Group, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun discussed updates in technologies related to solid-state rechargeable batteries. Given it was a meeting between the heads of the world-renowned conglomerates, anticipation is growing that the meeting was more than a casual one.
Among scenarios, garnering the most attention is a partnership to develop solid-state batteries.
"The topic of the meeting was mostly solid-state batteries, which are currently under development at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology," Korea Investment & Securities analyst Kim Jin-woo said. "Since solid-state batteries are at least five years away from commercialization, it is difficult to expect that Samsung SDI will supply secondary batteries to Hyundai Motor immediately. However, if they jointly develop next generation battery technologies with a long-term view, a partnership may begin with the supply of existing prismatic or cylindrical batteries."
Hyundai Motor procures EV batteries from LG Chem, while its affiliate Kia Motors is supplied by SK Innovation. Since they are mostly using pouch-type batteries, Samsung SDI, whose main products are prismatic and cylindrical batteries is not a supplier.
Hyundai Motor Group is currently developing a new EV platform, dubbed E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform) and plans to roll out a series of cars based on it, starting with a new crossover EV, known as the NE, next year.
Hyundai Motor Group selected SK Innovation as a first-tier supplier for E-GMP vehicles last year, and plans to buy batteries for 1.1 million EVs in three additional rounds of procurements. Given the timeframe, industry officials said the NE will likely be equipped with SK Innovation batteries, but Samsung SDI could get orders in the additional rounds.
"With the commercial production of the NE scheduled for January next year, there were supposed to be talks among officials about a tie-up between Samsung SDI and Hyundai Motor," an automobile industry official said. "Thus any partnership between Hyundai and Samsung will likely be more future-oriented, potentially for the latter part of battery procurement for the E-GMP."
Others think the partnership will be realized in the relatively near future, citing the timeframe of the meeting between Lee and Chung, and the development schedule for the new Hyundai EVs.
"There is a high possibility of seeing Samsung SDI batteries in Genesis EVs," said Kim Phil-soo, a professor at the Daelim University Automotive Engineering Department. "Designing the E-GMP will begin this summer, thus it is time for Hyundai Motor to decide which type of batteries it will use. And the leaders of Samsung and Hyundai met at such a crucial time. This drops a huge hint on the Genesis being key to the two groups' partnership."
Genesis is planning to roll out two EVs in 2021; the electrified version of the G80 and a new E-GMP based crossover vehicle, the JW EV. Kim said solid-state batteries were not be the only reason for the meeting, given the five-year timeframe before their commercialization.
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| Samsung SDI's cylindrical cell battery / Courtesy of Samsung SDI |
Industry officials projected any scenario would be a huge leap forward for Samsung SDI.
"There is only limited anticipation of Samsung SDI supplying secondary batteries to Hyundai Motor, but if there's a partnership between the two, Samsung SDI will be able to supply batteries whose combined capacity reaches 20 gigawatt-hours to Hyundai by 2025," NH Investment & Securities analyst Ko Jung-woo.
Samsung SDI was assumed to be able to produce 20 gigawatt-hour of batteries as of last year, which can power approximately 200,000 EVs equipped with a 100 kilowatt-hour battery. Though the number of vehicles can vary depending on the performance of batteries developed in the future, industry officials said the partnership will likely be a chance for Samsung SDI to gain market share.
According to market tracker SNE Research, Samsung SDI was the world's No. 4 EV battery supplier in the first quarter of 2020, with a 6 percent market share. LG Chem led with 27.1 percent, followed by Panasonic at 25.7 percent and CATL, 17.4 percent.
