South Korea’s Hyundai Motor To Invest $100 Million In Battery Startup SolidEnergy Systems

• ByStartupStory     |    July 6, 2021

Hyundai to invest $100 million in battery startup SolidEnergy Systems, a lithium metal battery startup. “As we have been investing in various companies related to electrification, our investment in SolidEnergy is part of that,” an official at Hyundai Motor told Yonhap, the news agency which first reported the news. SolidEnergy Systems was founded in 2012, and it was a branch of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company mostly develops anode free lithium metal batteries. The companies shareholder includes General Motors Co., SK Inc. and Tianqi Lithium Corp., among others.  

In April, Hyundai said during its earnings call that the company had been developing solid-state batteries and planned to mass produce electric vehicles (EV) using solid-state batteries in 2030. Hyundai currently sources its batteries for its EVs from SK Innovation Co. Ltd and LG Chem Ltd.’s wholly-owned LG Energy Solution. In March, General Motors announced a partnership with SES to boost its battery development, allowing for increased electric vehicle driving range in a smaller package Hyundai’s investment in SolidEnergy System (SES) which is a lithium metal battery startup shows the automaker’s intention to get a strong foothold in the electrification sector. Report also suggests that Hyundai will focus on developing hydrogen fuel cell-based urban air mobility.

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