SMM11, 28 March: South Korea's SK Innovation plans to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant near Atlanta, providing the basis for the company's expected 11-fold increase in capacity by 2022.
Construction is scheduled to begin early next year and will be completed by 2022. The new plant will supply batteries for the North American electric car business of Volkswagen, a German carmaker, under a strategic alliance formed by SK earlier this month. The plant has an annual production capacity of 9.8g / h, more than twice the current global battery capacity of SK 4.7GWh. Volkswagen, which is based in nearby Tennessee, aims to launch 50 new all-electric models on its nameplates by 2025. Volkswagen aims to produce more than 1 million electric vehicles a year during this period.
SK plans to increase its annual electric car battery capacity to 55GWhby 2022, enough to supply nearly 1.9 million cars. After partnering with Volkswagen, Volkswagen raised its 2022 target from 20GWh to 55GWh. Starting next year, SK, along with its South Korean rivals LG Chem and Samsung SDI, will supply batteries for Volkswagen electric cars in Europe.
The Georgia site will also bring SK's plant close to other major U. S. automakers, including BMW, Daimler, Volvo, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia.
Last year, the number of electric vehicles used worldwide increased by 54 percentage points to 3.1 million, and the International Energy Agency predicted that the number would increase to 125 million by 2030.
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