Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung SDI are accelerating their cooperation on electric-vehicle batteries. Until now, Hyundai Motor Group's EVs mainly used pouch-type batteries from LG Energy Solution and SK On, but starting this year, Samsung SDI's prismatic batteries have begun to be installed.
This is a result that came three years after Hyundai Motor and Samsung SDI signed a battery supply contract in 2023. Prior to that, if measured from the battery-related meeting between Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the result came six years later.
According to the battery industry on the 20th, Samsung SDI batteries were installed in the Genesis GV90, an electric sport-utility vehicle (SUV) that Hyundai Motor Group's premium brand unveiled in line with the "G90 World Premiere" held in San Francisco on the 19th (local time).
The battery capacity installed in the GV90 is 123.5 kWh, the largest among Hyundai Motor Group's EVs. On a single charge, the GV90 Standard (seven-seater) can travel 500 km (Hyundai Motor research center measurement standard). With fast charging, the battery capacity can be increased from 10% to 80% in 22 minutes.
This is the third time Hyundai Motor Group has adopted Samsung SDI batteries. Samsung SDI batteries were first applied to Kia's small electric SUV "EV2," which was released in April this year. Samsung SDI batteries were also installed in Hyundai Motor's small electric SUV "Ioniq 3," which recently began mass production at the Türkiye plant.
It is meaningful that Samsung SDI batteries are installed in the GV90. Previously, the EV2 and Ioniq 3 equipped with Samsung SDI were strategic models released only in Europe. In contrast, the GV90 is a flagship that Genesis is launching and is expected to become the most expensive model among domestically produced EVs.
A battery industry official said, "It appears that the characteristics of the prismatic batteries that Samsung SDI mainly produced—being resistant to external shocks—were reflected." Prismatic batteries are flat, box-shaped batteries encased in aluminum cans, making them more resistant to external shocks than pouch-type batteries.
In the battery industry, the meeting between Chairman Chung and Chairman Lee six years ago is seen as the starting point that opened the way for battery cooperation between Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung SDI. In May 2020, Chairman Chung met Chairman Lee at Samsung SDI's Cheonan plant. Then, in July of that year, Chairman Lee visited Hyundai Motor's Namyang Research Center, where discussions on battery cooperation were reportedly made more concrete.
Three years later, in 2023, Hyundai Motor and Samsung SDI signed a battery supply contract. In Oct. 2023, Samsung SDI said, "From 2026 to 2032, for seven years, we will supply batteries for Hyundai Motor's next-generation EVs bound for Europe."
At the time, Samsung SDI said it would supply Hyundai Motor with the sixth-generation prismatic battery, the P6. The P6 is a product that maximizes energy density by increasing the nickel content to 91% in the cathode material of the nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) battery and applying silicon material to the anode.
Going forward, battery collaboration between Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung SDI is expected to become even more active. Hyundai Motor and Samsung SDI signed a memorandum of understanding last year to develop high-performance batteries dedicated to robots. Samsung SDI is developing solid-state batteries for robots with the goal of mass production in the second half of 2027. Samsung SDI has already supplied batteries for Hyundai Motor's mobility platform "MobED."
Starting in 2028, Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy "Atlas," the humanoid robot from its robotics affiliate Boston Dynamics, for parts sorting tasks. Cooperation with battery companies such as Samsung SDI is necessary.
At its second-quarter earnings announcement, Samsung SDI said, "We are expanding our business areas to include batteries for robots, humanoids, and space and aviation," and noted, "We are at the stage of discussing concrete cooperation with a customer for humanoid solid-state batteries."