Hyundai Motor Group, SK Innovation Collaborate To Develop EV Battery Industry Ecosystem

Hyundai Motor Group and SK Innovation Co. have agreed to cooperate in the development of a sustainable ecosystem for electric vehicle batteries. The two companies announced their plan to cooperate in diverse business areas related to the EV battery industry, including battery sales solutions, battery management service and battery reuse and recycling.

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The collaboration stems from the companies' shared need to create a battery value chain and strengthen eco-friendliness in business operations covering the entire lifecycle of EV batteries. Unlike existing cooperation schemes between mobility companies and battery companies that tended to center on battery supply, the Hyundai-SK cooperation aims for a virtuous cycle of battery usage known as the Battery as a Service (BaaS), which includes lease or rental service.

The collaboration stems from the companies' shared need to create a battery value chain

Youngcho Chi, President and Chief Innovation Officer of Hyundai Motor Group said, “Hyundai Motor Group's cooperation with SK Innovation, a first-tier battery supplier for our Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) that will be introduced in 2021, marks a critical first step in maximizing synergies between mobility and battery companies. We expect our cooperation to play an immensely positive role in strengthening Hyundai-Kia's competitiveness in clean mobility as well as expanding the supply of eco-friendly EVs.”

Through this partnership, the two parties aim to strengthen the stability of the battery supply chain and create a virtuous cycle of resources from recycling to production; reduce carbon emissions; encourage optimal design that connects EVs and battery reuse, and create synergies by maximizing added value through the optimal design of batteries. To enable cooperation, both sides are focusing on the initial process of collecting and verifying the battery pack of Kia Motors' Niro EV model.

Hyundai and SK Innovation are focusing on the initial process of collecting and verifying the battery pack of Kia Motors' Niro EV model.

The two companies will seek solutions that can maximize value and eco-friendliness of EV batteries, including reuse of batteries that are no longer useable in vehicles in diverse applications such as the Energy Storage Systems (ESS); and battery recycling that extracts economically valuable metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt.