History
SK began battery development in the 1980s, with LG following suit in the decade after. LG started mass production of lithium-ion batteries in 1999 and Samsung completed its first cell plant the year after. LG began supplying EV batteries in 2009 with the Chevrolet Volt, and SK built its first mass production line in 2012. The companies expanded their presence across Asia, Europe, and North America. [2] [3] [4]
In April 2019, LG Chem sued SK Innovation in the US for stealing trade secrets. In February 2020, the United States International Trade Commission ruled in favor of LG and banned SK from importing materials for its plant in Commerce, Georgia. The conflict drew concern and criticism from both South Korean and American officials. [5] [6] In April 2021, days before President Joe Biden's deadline to potentially overrule the ITC decision, SK agreed to settle and pay LG $1.8 billion in cash and royalties instead. They also agreed on not suing each other for 10 years. [7]
Starting in 2019, Korean battery firms began establishing joint ventures in North America, which was encouraged by tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. [8] [9] These factories, built in partnership with automotive manufacturers such as General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, Honda, and Hyundai Motor Company, would form parts of the "Battery Belt". [10] [11]
In December 2020, LG Chem spun off its battery division as LG Energy Solution. [12] In October 2021, SK Innovation spun off its battery division as SK On. [13]
Between 2022 and 2025, three of the joint ventures' employees gained union representation by the United Auto Workers. [14] BlueOval SK contested the results of its 2025 vote, even as it announced the layoffs of its entire workforce later that year. [15]
In May 2024, the US government agreed to delay IRA restrictions on Chinese graphite until the end of 2026, granting battery manufacturers time to find and switch to alternative sources of the anode material. The restriction would have affected subsidies for over 30 vehicles involving the three major Korean battery manufacturers. The Korean government committed 9.7 trillion won to support the transition. [16]
In July 2025, US President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included provisions to prematurely end electric vehicle subsidies from the Biden administration by September of that year. [17] South Korean battery firms began winding down their American joint venture projects and dividing ownership of sites. They also began shifting focus from EVs to energy storage. [18] [19] This period also marked the shift from South Korea's traditional focus on higher-end nickel-manganese-cobalt (NCM) batteries to the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries Chinese companies had specialized in. [20]
