South Korean electronics giant LG has just finished what it claims is the world’s largest lithium-ion battery plant for electric vehicle traction batteries.
Capable of producing enough lithium ion batteries to put 100,000 electric cars on the road LG’s chemical devision LG Chem is keen to become the market leader for electric car batteries by 2015
The firm isn’t stopping at just one factory however. A second plant is planned for South Korea in the next two years, along with a U.S. based factory. The two additional factories will cost the firm an expected $1.84 billion.
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It’s a good investment. LG Chem’s President Lee Myun-Bak said the company’s move toward green technologies was an integral part of its future successes, especially since it estimates the electric vehicle market will increase by a factor of 10 by 2015.
L.G. Chem isn’t new to the electric vehicle battery market. It already supplies batteries to Chevrolet, Renault, Ford, Volvo and Hyundai-Kia.
With the 2011 Chevrolet Volt increasing production for 2012 and cars from Renault and Ford due to hit the roads in Europe and the U.S., L.G’s factory expansion is perfectly timed.
The new facilities will help it keep up with global demand from its current clients as well as provide a new source of batteries for the much-crippled Japanese auto industry, which is currently struggling to keep its supply chains healthy following last month’s devastating earth quake and tsunami.
