A former division of billionaire Chey Tae-won’s SK conglomerate, Seoul-based electric vehicle battery manufacturer SK On has huge ambitions. Its co-CEOK On co-CEO Jee Dong-seob has a simple but bold goal for his company: to become the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker by output by 2030.
It’s a strong track record for a company that didn’t exist three years ago. SK On was spun off as its own company last October from SK Innovation, a holding company for both traditional and alternative energy businesses under SK group, one of Korea’s largest chaebols. There’s still a long way to go. “Of course, our competitors are also working very hard,” Jee says.
A year ago, Ford announced plans for two new megaprojects, BlueOval City and BlueOval SK, the latter a joint venture with SK. BlueOval City is spelled as Blue Oval City in the photo.SK On is scoping out the American market, where it already has a factory in the aptly named city of Commerce in Georgia. The U.S. is now the world’s third-largest EV market, accounting for 4.5% of global sales, behind Europe at 16% and China at 14%, according to the International Energy Agency .
The CEO says SK On has racked up an enviable order backlog, a crucial indicator to support growth. The group’s confirmed EV battery backlog stands at 1,600gwh, equivalent to the installed capacity of approximately 20 million EVs, or approximately $176 billion in value per SK On’s estimates. But others have sizable backlogs as well, such as LG Energy Solution, which has an order backlog worth $231 billion, an LG spokesperson said in a March earnings call.
Still, fires are extremely rare. The battery safety group EVFireSafe, which is backed by the Australian government, verified only 246 EV battery-related fires globally since 2010 in over 16 million EVs in active use.