SKOn Starts Developing Batteries for Nissan Amidst Cooperation and Challenges
TapTechNews July 8th news, the Korean media ETNews quoted industry sources as saying that SKOn has started the work of developing electric vehicle batteries for Nissan and required partners to start researching and developing corresponding equipment and parts.
According to Reuters' report in March this year, Nissan and SKOn started the battery supply cooperation negotiation at that time. The Korean media reported recently that the two parties have not signed a formal agreement yet, but SKOn has started the preparatory work.
The main reason why Nissan approaches SKOn for cooperation is still the subsidy policy of the US Inflation Reduction Act.
In terms of pure electric vehicle battery supply, Nissan traditionally relied on its former subsidiary AESC. But Nissan sold AESC to the Chinese enterprise Envision Group in 2018.
AESC (now known as Envision Power in Chinese) currently has a Chinese identity, making Nissan electric vehicles equipped with its batteries unable to obtain the subsidy stipulated by the US Inflation Reduction Act. Nissan urgently needs to find a non-Chinese battery supplier with production capacity in North America.
SKOn will supply nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary soft pack batteries to Nissan. The soft pack battery is packaged with aluminum-plastic film, which has a higher energy density while being lighter in weight.
SKOn achieved mass production of ternary batteries with 90% nickel, 5% cobalt, and 5% manganese in 2022.
Considering that it takes more than two years from the start of battery development to the completion of verification, the battery developed by SKOn for Nissan is expected to be mass-produced from the end of 2026 to the beginning of 2027, and it is expected to be installed on Nissan's next-generation electric vehicles.
The Korean media said that Nissan and SKOn are conducting the final negotiation before the contract is finalized regarding the battery mass production plant, supply volume, and contract amount.
According to TapTechNews' report yesterday (7), SKOn has suffered losses for 10 consecutive quarters since it was spun off from SKInnovation in 2021.