Lee Jae-yong and Chung Eui-sun Hold First Solo Meeting... Share Opinions on Next-Generation Electric Vehicle Batteries

Visited Samsung SDI Cheonan Plant on the 13th... Exchanged Opinions on All-Solid-State Battery Development Status and Direction

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun will meet on the 13th at the Samsung SDI plant in Cheonan. This is the first time that Vice Chairman Lee and Executive Vice Chairman Chung have held an official meeting alone. At this meeting, both companies are expected to exchange opinions on next-generation batteries for electric vehicles.

According to Hyundai Motor Group, Vice Chairman Lee and Executive Vice Chairman Chung, along with executives from both groups, will visit the Samsung SDI Cheonan plant to exchange views on the development status and direction of all-solid-state batteries, which are next-generation batteries for electric vehicles. From Hyundai Motor Group, Executive Vice Chairman Chung, Albert Biermann, President of Hyundai-Kia R&D Division, and President Seo Bo-shin in charge of products are scheduled to visit the site. From Samsung Group, Vice Chairman Lee, Samsung SDI President Jeon Young-hyun, and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology President Hwang Sung-woo will participate.

The Samsung SDI Cheonan plant specializes in the production of small batteries and automotive batteries. Hyundai Motor Group executives will listen to explanations from Samsung SDI and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology executives about global trends in all-solid-state battery technology and Samsung's development status of all-solid-state batteries in the executive meeting room of the battery division, and then exchange opinions on mutual interests.

Following this, executives from both companies will also tour the advanced development site for electric vehicle batteries at the plant.

Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Euisun is delivering a New Year's address at the 2020 Hyundai Motor Group Kick-off Ceremony held at Hyundai Motor Company headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

This is the first time that the heads of the two groups have held a one-on-one meeting in an official setting. Although they have previously attended business leader meetings together, they have never met alone. This is also Executive Vice Chairman Chung’s first visit to a Samsung business site.

Currently, LG Chem batteries are mainly used in Hyundai’s electrified models, and SK Innovation batteries are mainly used in Kia’s electrified vehicles. Hyundai-Kia Motors selected SK Innovation last year as the primary supplier of batteries for pure electric vehicles to be mass-produced early next year. However, Hyundai-Kia plans to place three additional orders for batteries to be installed in pure electric vehicles.

A Hyundai Motor Group official said, "Hyundai-Kia Motors is researching related technologies to realize optimized battery performance necessary for the world’s highest-performance electric vehicles," adding, "This visit is intended to exchange opinions on the direction of next-generation battery technology and to share the status of new technologies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.