Reflected Benefit

The popularity of Chevrolet Bolt EV is expected to give a positive effect on LG Chem’s sales of batteries for electric vehicles.
The popularity of Chevrolet Bolt EV is expected to give a positive effect on LG Chem’s sales of batteries for electric vehicles.

 

The Chevrolet Bolt EV, which is scheduled to be manufactured within this year, is expected to create a boom with its low price and reliable battery with a capacity of 60 kWh.

This car is capable of running about 200 miles once fully charged and takes only seven seconds to reach 60 miles per hour from zero. Still, the price is as low as US$37,500 and the warranty for the battery is as long as eight years or 100,000 miles.

News outlets are focusing on the battery, which is supplied by LG Chem, in particular. “When Chevy’s Volt plug-in hybrid got off the ground in 2008, GM was paying $1,000 for a kwh of automotive-grade lithium-ion storage. Today, that number is $145 per kwh, and GM gets its cell-level batteries from LG Electronics in South Korea,” the Wall Street Journal reported on February 11.

According to the WSJ, the sale of the Bolt EV is likely to benefit from global environmental regulations. For example, U.S. automakers have to raise the average fuel economy of their products to 54.5 mpg by 2025, and this can have a positive effect on LG Chem’s sales of batteries for electric vehicles. LG Chem’s plant in Holland, Michigan, which supplies batteries to GM, increased the number of its workers from about 100 to 300 between 2015 and this year.

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