Porsche to use domestic battery cells in South Korea, including for Macan Electric

Porsche officially unveiled the new Cayenne Electric in mid-November 2025. Series production of the PPE-based electric vehicle has been underway for around a month and a half in Slovakia. The model is now also heading to South Korea, where the E-Cayenne will join the two existing electric model ranges, the Macan Electric and Taycan, in the second half of the year.

In this context, it has now been confirmed that Porsche Korea will use battery cells from Korean companies for all three models. The Taycan, which has been on sale for several years, and the new Cayenne Electric already feature battery cells from LG Energy Solution. However, the Macan Electric requires Porsche to make adjustments.

“We feel very confident for having Korean batteries in all our Porsche electric models,” Porsche Korea CEO Mathias Busse told reporters during a press conference. “We are using battery cells from LG Energy Solution for the Cayenne Electric.”

The Taycan also features the aforementioned LGES cells. The Macan Electric, however, is switching from cells supplied by the Chinese company CATL to those from Samsung SDI.

That Porsche’s electric vehicles in Korea would soon be sold exclusively with domestic battery cells had already leaked a few weeks ago. The South Korean newspaper The Chosun Daily reported in February that the E-Macan would be affected by this change. Porsche manufactures the electric mid-size SUV at its Leipzig plant—until now, exclusively using battery cells from CATL’s German factory in Arnstadt, Thuringia, near the Erfurt Cross. However, as the newspaper noted, ‘South Korean consumers are known for scrutinising the battery manufacturer when purchasing an electric vehicle.’

Beyond loyalty to the domestic economy, Porsche’s move also has a political dimension: following a fire involving a Mercedes EQE in the underground car park of a residential building in Incheon in 2024, the South Korean government called on car manufacturers to disclose their battery suppliers. Many manufacturers complied at the time, and the practice remains common today. Both policymakers and consumers are highly sensitised to this issue.

Regardless, with its latest electric model, the Cayenne Electric, Porsche has already shifted its battery strategy. The battery is no longer just a core component of development but also sees Porsche taking greater control of production. For the Taycan and Macan, the supplier Dräxlmaier assembles the ready-to-install battery packs from purchased cells and delivers them to the vehicle plants.

For the Cayenne Electric produced at the VW plant in Bratislava, Porsche has established the Porsche Smart Battery Shop in Horná Streda, Slovakia, where it now manufactures the battery modules with LGES cells in-house.

koreatimes.co.kr, koreaherald.com, press.kor.porsche.com (press release in Korean)