SK Innovation has started construction of the second plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong province that will produce batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). The KRW250bn ($231.75m) Seosan plant is scheduled to be completed next year and will be able to produce batteries for around 25,000 EVs annually. The batteries will be supplied to Hyundai Motor for its BlueOn subcompact, Mercedes-Benz for the SLS AMG E-Cell sports car and Mitsubishi Fuso for hybrid trucks.
SK Innovation will face competition from LG Chem and SB LiMotive in production of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) as they are also adding capacities in their plants. LG has completed a plant at the Ochang industrial complex in North Chungcheong province in April which is capable of producing batteries for 100,000 EVs a year which can be increased to 350,000 a year by 2013. The company currently supplies batteries for GMs Volt and the hybrid versions of the Hyundai Sonata and Kia K5, and has also signed deals with Ford, Renault and Volvo. SB LiMotive, a joint venture between Samsung SDI and German auto parts maker Bosch, constructed a plant in Ulsan, South Korea last November which supplies batteries to BMW for its ActiveE electric car.
