Feuding Korean firms risk disrupting electric car battery supplies - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.

With great fanfare, SK Innovation broke ground in March on a $1.7 billion factory in Commerce, Georgia, about 200 km from VW’s Chattanooga plant, which will be the automakers electric vehicle hub in the United States.Stung by missing out on the VW deal to the new kid on the block and the departure of 77 employees for its rival across the Han River in Seoul, LGC took SKI to court in the United States in April accusing it of misappropriating trade secrets.

At stake is the Korean firms’ ability to supply automakers in the United States with batteries just as the car producers are scrambling to lock in supplies with lucrative contracts ahead of an expected surge in demand, according to court filings by the two companies and several industry experts. “We are aware of the issue. As a normal course of action, we have business continuity plans in place to protect our interests,” Flake said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

In one court filing, LGC said its rival poached employees working on its own project to supply batteries for VW’s MEB electric vehicle architecture – and that SKI only won the VW contract because it had misappropriated trade secrets. In April, LGC asked the US International Trade Commission to block SKI from bringing batteries and components into the United States, as well as manufacturing systems needed for U.S. production which is scheduled to start in 2022.

LGC said in a statement it would impossible to design around its patents while SKI said losing the patents case could create “substantial setbacks” to its battery business.LGC was an early industry force to be reckoned with, winning a deal in 2008 to supply batteries for GM’s Volt, the world’s first mass-market, plug-in hybrid car, and it has since worked with almost every EV maker including Tesla.

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