LG Energy to invest in Li-metal battery developer Sion Power

Global lithium-ion battery major LG Energy Solution Ltd. will invest in Sion Power Corp., a US startup holding core patents in lithium-metal battery technologies, to advance its battery technologies, the company said on Thursday.

South Korea’s No. 1 electric vehicle battery maker will invest in the Arizona-based company to acquire an equity stake via LG Group’s corporate venture capital arm LG Technology Ventures (LGTV) and private equity firm Bricks Capital Management (BCM).

The two parties agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the investment and the amount of LG Energy Solution’s equity shares.

The Korean battery major expects to accelerate the development of next-generation battery technologies with its new partner, which owns core patents related to lithium-metal battery technologies.

A lithium-metal battery uses a metal anode, which can significantly improve battery energy efficiency compared with a lithium-ion battery, which uses a graphite anode.

Lithium-metal batteries are considered next generation. However, their development has been slow due to the formation of dendrites on the metal anode surface, which degrades the battery’s life and stability.

But Sion Power owns core patents on technologies that can fight back dendrite formation. With such technologies, the development of lithium-metal batteries is expected to pick up speed.

The US battery startup holds a total of 470 patents related to battery technologies, according to LG Energy Solution.

NEXT-GENERATION BATTERY TECHNOLOGIES

Sion Power claims that its lithium-metal battery enhanced with its proprietary anode protection technology weighs the same as a lithium-ion battery but can store 1.5 times more energy.    

LG Energy Solution has been actively seeking partnerships with others in the battery industry and academia to develop next-generation battery technologies.

Last year, it introduced a borate-pyran-based liquid electrolyte developed jointly with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

The new technology is expected to enhance the performance of lithium-metal batteries as it can minimize corrosion between the electrolyte and the lithium metal anode, which improves driving range by about 50% versus the average range of premium lithium-ion batteries, according to LG Energy Solution.

Battery makers worldwide are racing to develop next-generation batteries like lithium-metal batteries and all-solid-state batteries, which use solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte, instead of liquid electrolytes found in conventional lithium-ion batteries.

SES Holdings Pte. Ltd., one of the world’s top solid-state battery makers, has developed a hybrid lithium-metal rechargeable battery with enhanced performance and safety and is expected to become a game-changer in the global battery industry.

Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co. is invested in SES Holdings. 

Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com


Sookyung Seo edited this article.