According to BUSSINESSKOREA reported that LG New Energy (LG Energy Solution) is expected to temporarily stop the development of prismatic batteries, focusing on the existing pouch and cylindrical batteries.
LG New Energy announced earlier this year that the company plans to develop prismatic batteries. To that end, LG New Energy formed a prismatic battery development team in January. However, many of the team’s engineers have recently moved to the automotive battery development and small cell development departments. This implies that LG is temporarily suspending the development of prismatic batteries.
In addition, LG New Energy recently announced that the company is reconsidering plans for a new cylindrical battery plant in Arizona due to surging investment costs. This means that LG may focus on its existing pouch and cylindrical batteries. Some industry stakeholders believe that in this case, developing prismatic batteries will certainly be a considerable burden for LG New Energy.
For reference, LG New Energy’s operating profit for the second quarter of this year was KRW19.56 billion (about RMB997 million), down 73% from the same period last year and 24.4% from the previous quarter.
In the second half of 2021, LG New Energy began to promote the development of prismatic batteries for electric vehicles. Some industry stakeholders believe that LG New Energy’s move is related to the Volkswagen Group’s plan to increase the proportion of prismatic batteries in its electric vehicles to more than 80%. But a LG New Energy executive said the move was not a request from any particular company.
LG New Energy announced on July 22 that the company will gradually expand its power battery supply to Ford based on market demand for pure electric cars and commercial vehicles.
