Hurrying to Expand EV Battery Plants
LG Chem is rolling up its sleeves to expand its electric vehicle (EV) battery production capacity as global demand is growing rapidly.
The company announced Oct. 23 that it has held a groundbreaking ceremony for its second EV battery plant at the Binjiang Development Zone in Nanjing, China.
The new plant will be built on a site of 60,000 pyeong, 24 times the size of a soccer field.
LG Chem will invest 2.1 trillion won in phases by 2023 in the new plant, which will have a production capacity of more than 500,000 high-performance batteries based on 320 kilometers of mileage. It is going to start first-stage mass-production from end of next year.
"We will make the new Nanjing plant the world's best factory by applying up-to-date technologies and facilities." said LG Chem vice chairman Park Jin-soo. “The new plant will help us respond to rapidly growing global demands for electric vehicle batteries.”
LG Chem is operating a small battery plant, including its first EV batter plant, in an economic development district 45 kilometers away from the Binjiang Development Zone. The company expects synergies between the two plants.
It also expects a stable supply and demand of raw materials for batteries as the new plant is only 180 kilometers away from the anode material manufacturing joint venture with Huayou Cobalt Co. in Wuxi, China.
When the second Nanjing EV battery plant is completed, LG Chem will produce electric car batteries in five locations in Korea, China, Europe and the United States.
LG Chem is planning to utilize each plant as a supply base for each continent and secure a production capacity for more than 1.5 million EV batteries by 2020.
First of all, the plant in Ochang, South Korea, is the hub of core production technology that controls overall production volume and take care of orders from Korean carmakers.
The second plant in Nanjing will play a role as an export base for Asia, while the U.S. and European plants will respond to local supplies.