The Korean battery cell manufacturer Samsung SDI has announced that it will invest the equivalent of around 740 million euros in the expansion of its battery factory in Göd, Hungary, near Budapest.

Samsung SDI has appointed a new head of its electric car battery business, Park Zin, as part of a series of management reshuffles. He replaces Ahn Tae-hyuk, who was previously responsible for this area.

South Korean electric vehicle battery manufacturers more than doubled their market share between January and July 2020. In general, the market contracted by 16.8 per cent from 64.1 to 53.3 GWh capacity during the first seven months of the year due to corona.

Due to delivery problems with battery cells, Audi had to stop production of the e-tron quattro in Brussels in spring. In an interview, the new Audi boss said that the problem has been solved and spoke about the goals of the Artemis project.

The battery cell manufacturer Samsung SDI and their supplier of battery materials EcoPro BM are jointly investing the equivalent of around 97 million US dollars in a joint venture that the two South Korean companies have called EcoPro EM.

Researchers at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology have presented the prototype of a solid-state battery cell, which will help electric cars achieve a range of 800 kilometres and survive 1,000 charging cycles.

Glencore and Samsung SDI have now signed a contract to supply Samsung with cobalt between 2021 to 2024. The contract covers an amount of 21,000 tonnes of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The BMW Group has awarded the two battery cell manufacturers CATL and Samsung SDI further orders worth several billion euros. The German carmaker intends to cover their battery cell requirements until 2031.

Umicore and Samsung SDI have signed a strategic agreement to supply nearly 80,000 tonnes of NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) cathode material from 2020. The supply will come from Umicore plants in various regions, most of them initially from Korea.

The European Commission has opened an investigation against Hungary to assess whether Hungary’s plans to grant €108 million in subsidies to Samsung SDI for the expansion of its battery cell production plant in Göd follow EU rules on regional state aid.

The automotive supplier Webasto has started the production of batteries for electric vehicles in Germany. The production of battery packs for a European bus manufacturer has begun at the Schierling site in the Regensburg district – albeit with purchased cells.

German battery system manufacturer Akasol has significantly expanded its cooperation with Samsung SDI. Akasol has nominated the Korean company as a supplier for lithium-ion battery cells and modules for two large series orders with commercial vehicle manufacturers.

BMW Group, BASF, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electronics launch “Cobalt for Development”, a cross-industry initiative to promote responsible cobalt mining in micro-mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With immediate effect, BMW is installing more powerful battery cells in the plug-in hybrid version of the 5 Series. The aim is to increase the electric range to up to 57 kilometres and reduce CO2 emissions by 20 per cent.

The Volvo Group and Samsung SDI have formed a strategic alliance to develop battery packs specifically for Volvo electric trucks. Samsung SDI will supply the battery cells and modules to the Volvo Group that will assemble these in its facilities.

There are concerns at Volkswagen that a supply contract with Samsung SDI worth around 50 billion euros could be called off. The Koreans are said to have originally agreed to supply battery cells with a total capacity of just over 20 GWh to VW.

Thank you for waiting – the VW Passat GTE is making a comeback. In the run-up to the Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen held a technology workshop, in which the Passat got an update that will benefit the plug-in hybrid version GTE as well. By the time of delivery in late summer, more than a year […]

BMW, BASF, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electronics have launched a cooperative pilot project to support sustainable and fair cobalt mining initiatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The German development agency GIZ will coordinate the project.

Analysts from UBS teamed up with engineers to figure out which electric vehicle batteries made by established manufacturers offer the best value. They concluded that cells made by Panasonic in Tesla’s Gigafactory are 20 per cent more cost efficient than the next best on offer from LG Chem.

Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Peter Altmaier, wants to have about 30% of global battery production in 2030 take place in Europe. What this would entail in terms of factories is described below.

Korea’s three largest battery manufacturers announce the creation of a 100 billion won fund (about €78M). SK Innovation, LG Chem and Samsung SDI thus aim to promote R&D of battery technologies and to support promising start-ups.

Jaguar Land Rover will be investing in Samsung battery cells soon, according to insiders. Apparently the Brits are interested in the cylindrical battery cells from Samsung SDI for future models as of 2020. The Korean battery manufacturer will reportedly upgrade their Hungary factory with a new production line for 21700 cells.

Korea’s largest battery makers LG Chem and Samsung SDI are losing market shares to competitors from China, SNE Research finds. They pin the loss to increased domestic demand in China from electric buses and trucks. CATL appears to have benefitted the most.

Indian company Mankame is working on an electric motorcycle with a spec that appears dreamy almost. Their EP-1 got a range of 500 km on paper, while its 40 kW motor manages a top speed of 250 kph. Their base price is 8,500 euros for a less powerful version but even the top trim is […]

Volkswagen is pushing electric mobility and has to find batteries in order to scale up. After joining forces with CATL in China just days ago, the Germans have now turned to Korea, where VW announced a new partnership with LG Chem and Samsung SDI.

Samsung SDI and Webasto have signed a letter of intent to build high voltage batteries together for the commercial vehicle sector. Samsung is to develop a battery module using its prismatic battery cells for Webasto to integrate.

A consortium led by South Korea’s POSCO and Samsung SDI has won a bid to build a cathode materials plant in Chile. They will jointly invest about 54 million dollars in the plant, which will produce 3,200t of cathode a year starting by 2021.

Leading EV battery maker Samsung has announced plans to revise its cobalt strategy. Not only will the Koreans reduce the amount of the rare resource by using nickel instead but Samsung is also working on cells that do not require any cobalt. Recycling is another measure.

Leading battery manufacturers and procurement managers warned of a pending battery shortage in Europe, mainly due to the boom of wireless technology and the planned electrification campaigns by the automobile industry.

Samsung SDI’s presence at NAIAS means they made real advances in battery tech. And so the Koreans display includes solid-state as well a novel material solutions for increased capacity.