Automobile giants General Motors and South Korea’s Samsung SDI plan to set up a battery manufacturing plant for electric vehicles in a joint venture with an investment of over $3 billion in the US. The plant is likely to be commissioned in 2026.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who went on a tour of America, has a meeting with American President Joe Biden. According to a Reuters report, Yeol was accompanied on this tour by more than 100 executives from major South Korean companies. These include senior executives from Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group. GM and Samsung said the plant would have an annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt hours (GWh). However, the location of this plant has not been decided. High nickel prismatic and cylindrical battery cells will be made in this.
Top EV companies involved Tesla To counter this, GM plans to diversify its battery supply chain and secure the supply of components for electric vehicles. GM already has a joint venture with LG Energy Solutions in the US. Last year, the US Department of Energy had approved a loan of about $2.5 billion to this joint venture.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that prices of small electric vehicles (EVs) may drop to compete with petrol and diesel-powered cars in North America and Europe. Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, explained that the US Inflation Reduction Act could be a big contributor behind the increase in EV sales. Environment friendly industry has been supported in this act and there is a provision to give subsidy to the customers who buy EV. China ranks first in EV sales. Nearly half of the EVs on the world’s roads are in China. These include battery electric cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Last year, China accounted for about 60 percent of the global market for EVs. Prices of small EV models have also come down in China. In this regard, the IEA report said that sales of electric cars are expected to increase by about 35 percent to about 14 million units this year.
