Hyundai Partners With CATL & SK Innovation For Batteries 

Hyundai has partnered with CATL and SK Innovation for batteries for its electric global modular platform (E-GMP)which has been specifically designed for electric vehicles. The battery suppliers will provide the third batch of lithium-ion battery cells for all of Hyundai's electric vehicles post-2023. CATL and SK Innovation have worked with Hyundai previously, but interestingly, the world's biggest battery supplier is LG Chemical which is also a South Korean company like Hyundai. The E-GMP is a platform that Hyundai co-developed with Canoo, an electric car start-up from California. Interestingly, Apple was in conversations to acquire Canoo and was up to partner with Hyundai to manufacture the Apple Car, but now both are out of the running. 

CATL is one of the biggest battery vendors in the world

All Hyundai and Kia electric vehicles will sit on top of this platform. The first car based on this platform will be the IONIQ 5 EV which is part of a new brand of electric vehicles that Hyundai will release in the first half of 2021. Both companies have more electric vehicles in development through till 2024 all powered by the E-GMP platform. 

SK Innovation sells batteries to many companies like Ford and Volkswagen group 

All of this comes after SK Innovation supplied the first batch of batteries and CATL supplied the batteries for the second batch. CATL will be supplying batteries for 2 of 3 Hyundai EVs that will launch after 2023. CATL was reportedly chosen because of its Chinese origins which will allow Hyundai to expand faster in China. It would give access to the Hyundai group to Chinese subsidies as has co-owned and operated a production subsidiary in Beijing since 2002. 

This has also happened because of numerous instances of Hyundai electric vehicles caught fire which had been supplied by LG Chem. Despite this, LG Energy Solutions will still supply batteries to Hyundai via its JV in Indonesia.