[InterBattery] This Year's Core Agenda is 'Fast Charging'... Three Companies' 'Different Dreams'

InterBattery 'The Battery Conference' Held on the 7th
Top 3 Battery Companies Announce Core Strategies

Electric Vehicle Adoption Accelerates... Charging Infrastructure Lags
5-Minute Refueling, 600km Driving Range
Aiming for Charging Speeds Comparable to Combustion Engine Cars

On the 6th, visitors attending 'EV Trend Korea' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, are looking at an electric vehicle fast charger. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The technology heads of the three major battery companies identified 'fast charging' as the key topic in the battery industry this year.

Ko Jooyoung, Vice President and Head of the Medium and Large Product Planning Team at Samsung SDI, spoke as a presenter at 'The Battery Conference' held on the 7th at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, during the 'InterBattery 2024' event. He stated, "According to consulting results from external organizations that we internally reference, the biggest concerns customers have regarding electric vehicles were driving range and charging infrastructure in 2022, cost in 2023, and fast charging in 2024," adding, "While the demand for driving range has been somewhat met, as electric vehicle adoption has expanded widely, consumers feel the need for fast charging."

On this day, the three battery cell companies?LG Energy Solution, SK On, and Samsung SDI?presented their recent global battery industry strategies. All three companies highlighted fast charging as an important agenda for this year. Although electric vehicle adoption has become active, the expansion of charging infrastructure remains slow. The three battery companies aim to develop battery charging speed technology comparable to that of internal combustion engine vehicles.

Vice President Ko emphasized, "Currently, the average charging time for electric vehicles is 25 minutes, with a driving range of 400 km," and added, "Samsung SDI's basic strategy is to create batteries that can travel 600 km with 5 minutes of refueling/charging, similar to internal combustion engine vehicles."

Samsung SDI has set a goal to mass-produce batteries capable of traveling 600 km with 9 minutes of charging by 2026. Vice President Ko said, "While a battery that can travel 600 km with 9 minutes of charging cannot be considered equivalent to internal combustion engines, statistics show that very few consumers drive more than 200 km on a single charge," and added, "Securing a driving range of 300 km with 5 minutes of charging would cover 99.6% of consumers."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

LG Energy Solution also emphasized the importance of fast charging. However, it viewed that fast charging technology is not necessary for the mainstream market, which must consider price and safety. Kim Jeyoung, CTO (Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President) of LG Energy Solution, who spoke at the event, said, "The most important trend in next-generation electric vehicle batteries is fast charging," and added, "It is crucial to increase quick charging speed without reducing energy density." However, CTO Kim noted, "The mainstream market is not about quick charging but about charging speeds of 20 to 30 minutes with a driving range of 500 to 600 km," and said, "We consider it important to secure price competitiveness and improve safety while meeting these conditions."

At this year's InterBattery, SK On won the 'Best Innovation Award' for its Advanced SF (Super Fast) battery, which charges rapidly in just 18 minutes. This battery is an innovative product that increases energy density by 9% compared to the existing SF battery while maintaining fast charging time. Lee Jonha, Research Fellow (Vice President) at SK On, who spoke at the event, stated, "Our goal is to develop 10-minute fast charging technology by 2030." He continued, "Considering current charging infrastructure and charger performance, 15-minute fast charging can be supported by 350 kW fast chargers," but added, "To reduce fast charging time to 10 minutes, fast chargers with at least 450 kW are required, and chargers with this level of performance are very expensive to install." He further noted, "SK On completed the development of '7-minute fast charging' technology two years ago, but commercialization is difficult without supporting fast charging infrastructure."

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