Expansion in European Market
Samsung SDI batteries will be mounted on Volkswagen's new electric car “'e-Golf”. Volkswagen's 2017 e-Golf was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November last year and will hit the market on a full scale beginning in April.
According to the battery industry on March 29, Samsung SDI battery will be installed in Volkswagen's 2017 electric car 'e-Golf'. Volkswagen has been using Panasonic batteries so far in its old 'e-Golf' models.
Volkswagen is said to have focused on improving battery performances of the 2017 new e-Golf. The German automaker said last year that the 2017 golf electric car (e-Golf) will be equipped with a battery that can enable the vehicle to run up to 300km at a single charge. This is twice the mileage of an old e-Golf. Samsung SDI was selected as a new partner as Volkswagen made efforts to secure battery technology ahead of the launch of the new electric car.
At the moment, the BMW i3 which uses Samsung SDI's mid- to large-sized batteries, is capable of running 190 km in Europe and the new BMW i3 model loaded with a 94-Ah cell can run up to 300km. Volkswagen's new electric car, which has dialed up its mileage to 300 km, is said to be loaded with a battery with the same level as the new BMW i3.
As Samsung SDI succeeded in installing a new battery in the new Volkswagen model, battery competition in the European electric car market is expected to intensify. In particular, Volkswagen which significantly suffered from the Diesel Gate for two years, is now entering the electric car market, which is likely to benefit Samsung SDI. Meanwhile, LG Chem is supplying electric vehicle batteries to GM and Renault as well as Hyundai and Kia, and Panasonic supplies batteries to Tesla of the US for electric vehicles.
According to SNE Research, a global electric vehicle market research organization, the global electric car market is forecast to grow 26% annually from 2.8 million units in 2016 to 23 million units in 2025. The proportion of electric cars compared to gasoline cars is now 3%, but the proportion is expected to rise to 22% in 2025.