South Korea’s LG Group this week said its battery making and chemical subsidiaries together would invest over KRW15trn (US$13.2bn) by 2030 to develop next-generation battery technology and expand their domestic manufacturing capabilities.
That was announced during a ground-breaking event for a new battery research and testing centre at the company’s main plant in Ochang, 120km south of Seoul.
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The group wants to consolidate its leadership of the domestic EV battery segment as it faces growing competition from domestic rival SK Innovation.
Both LG Chem and LG Energy are expanding R&D investment and local manufacturing capacity for batteries and related materials, creating an expected 8,000 new jobs.
LG Energy will spend over KRW12trn to develop next-generation battery technology and expand local production capacity to help meet growing demand for electric vehicles.
This is one of the industry segments targeted for investment by the government and significant tax incentives will be made available as a result.
A significant proportion of this investment will go into the company’s Ochang plant, which has been designated to become the company’s flagship ‘smart factory’ by 2023.
The know-how developed will then be transferred to other factories in the group.
The company said it has outstanding EV battery orders worth KRW180trn from global vehicle manufacturers. It supplies most carmakers including Hyundai and Kia, Tesla, Ford, General Motors, Renault, Volvo and Volkswagen.
LG Chem said it would spend KRW2.7trn to develop advanced materials for EV batteries and increase manufacturing capacity to meet growing demand.
