SK Signet to supply over 1,000 ultra-fast chargers to US

South Korea's electric vehicle (EV) charger manufacturer SK Signet Inc. on Monday said it landed an order to supply at least 1,000 ultra-fast chargers from the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Francis Energy, the No. 4 operator in the US of such chargers.

The American company's main business is the construction of ultra-fast charging stations on US highways, operating over 550 machines in eight states. It plans to expand its network to 25 states.

SK Signet started negotiations last year with Francis Energy and signed a five-year deal this month to supply at least 1,000 400-kilowatt ultra-fast chargers through 2027. As the first of its kind to receive subsidies under the US government program National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI), the contract has over half of its volume eligible for this benefit.

Earlier the Biden administration announced a five-year investment in NEVI of $5 billion (6.3 trillion won) starting last year to build 500,000 charging stations by 2030.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, whose state is the first to get such stations under NEVI, last week announced the location of the first station. SK Signet and Francis Energy were selected for this project and plan to continue their long-term partnership starting with operations in Ohio.

SK Signet last month held a completion ceremony for its plant in Plano, Texas, and began mass production there this month. Because eligibility for the NEVI subsidy requires production in the U.S., this facility can produce up to 10,000 ultra-fast chargers annually.

"SK Signet's V2 (ultra-fast charger) is the most efficiently configurated product that meets NEVI standards, and we plan to complete as soon as possible the development of products applying the North American Charging Standard in response to changes on the US market," CEO Shin Jung-ho said.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com