South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer Samsung SDI announced it would begin trial production before the end of 2021 at its new cathode factory built in partnership with local battery materials technology company EcoPro BM.
The facility, located in the southern city of Pohang, was scheduled to begin mass production of cathodes, which regulate the capacity and voltage of lithium-ion batteries, in the first half of 2022.
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Samsung SDI owns a 60% stake in the joint venture, while EcoPro BM holds the remaining 40% of the equity. The 49,000 sq m factory had an annual production capacity of 36,000 tons of high nickel cathodes, enough for 400,000 EV batteries.
Samsung SDI Company also said recently it would build its first electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the US in a joint venture with Netherlands-based automaker Stellantis.
It joins rival South Korean battery makers LG Energy Solution and SK On in establishing major battery manufacturing deals in the US with local automakers GM and Ford respectively.
Samsung SDI said the plant would have an initial production capacity of 23 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries per year with production set to begin in the first half of 2025.
The factory would later be expanded to 40 GWh, with total investment expected to amount to US$3.4bn according to reports in South Korea.
The plant would supply batteries to Stellantis’ EV and hybrid models production in North America, under its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.
