LG seeks part in Tesla-designed battery rollout: sources

South Korea’s leading battery maker LG Energy Solution is in the race for mass production of a new type of battery cells designed in-house by and under pilot production at Tesla, according to industry sources and media reports.

The Korean firm, which currently supplies cylindrical batteries that contain 80 percent nickel to Tesla Model 3 sedans manufactured in China, is making preparations for its major client’s future deployment of larger-format batteries, referred to as 4680 cells.

Measuring 46 millimeters by 80 millimeters, the new batteries are bigger than the existing 2170 cells, that measure 21 millimeters by 70 millimeters, and can increase the driving range of electric vehicles by 16 percent.

It is a natural move for LGES to make to accommodate future orders from Tesla, which is leading innovations in electric vehicles, local experts said. 

“As a leader of the global battery industry, LGES could become the first one to begin the mass production of 4680 cells and supply them to ‘existing’ and new customers,” Meritz Securities analyst Rho Woo-ho said.

Tesla’s plans with the 4680 cylindrical battery cells was unveiled last year. 

The firm is currently pilot testing its in-house production on a small scale and is said to have forged a partnership with Japanese battery maker Panasonic for its test production.

Panasonic Chief Financial Officer Hirokazu Umeda said in February that it plans to start test production of 4680 cells for Tesla Gigafactory Nevada on April 1, aiming to deploy them at full throttle later this year.

LGES’ bid for the new Tesla batteries has been largely expected.

In its third-quarter conference call last year, an official said the firm “has secured some 20 customers who use cylindrical batteries and is developing a “new form factor with energy density five times greater and power output six times greater” than existing cylindrical battery models. That description matches the profile of the 4680 cells.

In its latest press call Friday, the company official said it was planning to expand a cylindrical battery manufacturing facility in the US.

That expansion plan is likely for 4680 cells, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources at the firm.

The report said LGES has completed developing samples and is mulling another production site, potentially in Europe, for the cells, as it hopes to land more supply contracts from Tesla.

The LGES headquarters in Seoul declined to comment.

An industry source with knowledge of the matter told The Korea Herald that “it seems too early” for LGES to have completed making samples.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)