EV Battery Running 500km
SK Innovation is seeking to develop an electric vehicle (EV) battery, which can run up to 500 kilometers with one full charge, by 2020. It far surpasses the currently mass produced EV battery storage technology with a range of 300 kilometers. When the new EV battery is mass produced, it will be able to directly compete with internal-combustion cars.
According to SK Innovation on April 3, Lee Yong-woo, management and planning manager at the Battery, Information & Electronics Materials (B&I) division said on the company’s blog, “We currently have the EV battery technology which can run about 350 kilometers with one full charge. We are planning to keep advancing our technology in order to improve the range to 500 kilometers in 2020.” Lee added, “Internal-combustion cars generally have a range of around 400km with a fill-up. So, general consumers will be able to drive the car without worries when the EV battery have the range of 500 kilometers with a single charge. It means that they can drive the EV from Seoul to Busan with a single charge.”
It is exceptional that an EV battery supplier presented the target of driving ranges which are not even mass produced. Automakers, which are customer companies, usually reveal the driving ranges of EV batteries.
Industry sources belies that the maximum driving ranges of EV batteries, which are currently mass produced by SK Innovation, is some 300 kilometers and the battery is used in the Hyundai Ioniq Electric.
Other domestic EV battery producers are also focusing on advancing their technology to increase the range. LG Chem is the most advanced company in terms of currently mass produced technology. LG Chem now supplies the EV battery with a 384 kilometer range to the latest Chevrolet Bolt EV, while Samsung SDI supplies the battery with a 300km-level range to the BMW i3 EV. Improving the energy density is crucial to increase the driving ranges of EV batteries. It is the technology to put more power in batteries of the same volume.
Lee said, “When an EV battery, which has a range of more than 400 kilometers with a single charge, is released in 2020, EVs will be better than internal-combustion cars in terms of safety and durability.”