SK Innovation doubles EV battery production
Korea's SK Innovation announced earlier this month that it has doubled its annual production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries to meet increasing demand at home and abroad. Kia Motors and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding are key customers, and the company recently signed a deal with an unnamed European automaker to supply batteries for its EVs starting in 2016. The supply volume will soon be nearly &ldquo;three times larger&rdquo; than SK&rsquo;s current output, CEO Chung Chul-khil told reporters in May. "The plant is running around the clock at full capacity to meet demand," an SK official said. 

SEOSAN, South Chungcheong Province -- SK Innovation, the energy holding unit of SK Group, is accelerating its drive to expand its electric automobile battery business by kicking its lithium-ion battery production into full gear.



The Korean firm’s newly-expanded battery plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, has more than doubled its annual production capacity from 300 to 700 megawatt-hours -- sufficient to power around 30,000 electric vehicles, the company said.



Since the factory first opened its doors in September 2012, it has been enlarging its production lines every year to meet rising client demands, with the latest expansion completed in May.





An SK Innovation employee examines a machine inside the company's electric car battery plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province. (SK Innovation)



The Seosan plant added a new production line this year to produce more batteries to be placed inside electric-powered vehicles by major automakers -- the Kia Soul EV and China-based BAIC Group’s EV200 and ES210, according to SK.



From the initial electrode manufacturing process to the cell assembly, cell activation and final packaging stages, the plant is churning out new battery packs nonstop, every day to fulfill its target quotas on time.



The nation’s leading energy firm is pinning high hopes on its expanded production capabilities to significantly drive up annual profits, as it looks to record a threefold increase in sales this year.



The plant is also at the center of company CEO Chung Chul-khil’s ongoing efforts to reform its business structure by strengthening select businesses and finding new sources of income in cooperation with overseas companies.



“Though we understand that the battery development business is a difficult one, we will not give up,” Chung told local reporters in May, reaffirming the company’s commitment to its fledgling rechargeable battery business.



SK Innovation’s electric car battery plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province. (SK Innovation)