New Korean Cold-Weather Battery Promises To End Winter Range Anxiety

At the InterBattery 2024 exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, the nation’s biggest battery manufacturers have shown off their most exciting innovations for the future of EVs, including a battery from SK On designed specifically for the cold. The Winter Pro LFP Battery is designed to ease range anxiety in colder climates, where batteries tend to suffer. Whereas normal lithium iron phosphate batteries can lose 50 to 70 percent of their range at temperatures of -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius), SK On’s new battery improves charging capacity by 16 percent and discharging by 10 percent, as compared to traditional LFP units. In addition, it showed off its fast-charging Advanced SF and SF+ batteries. Building on the company’s SF (Super Fast) high nickel battery that could charge from 10 to 80 percent in just 18 minutes, the Advanced SF battery improves energy density by 9 percent while losing no charging speed. Meanwhile, the SF+ Battery shrinks the charging time down to 15 minutes. Samsung SDI (which recently partnered with Stellantis and GM) was also at the show, outlining its plan to commercialize solid-state batteries. Bloomberg reports that the company plans to start mass-producing the advanced batteries by 2027. The company also said it’s targeting nine-minute charging times by 2026, and plans to make batteries with 20-year lifespans. “There should be a jump in battery technology for expansion of EVs as the technologies for lithium-ion batteries, especially for materials, are almost saturated,” Stella Go, Samsung SDI’s executive vice president told the outlet. “We are trying to lead in new technologies.” Together with LG Energy Solutions, the three Korean battery makers are trying to act as a counterbalance to Chinese battery giants. U.S. officials were present at the show to encourage Korean companies to build plants that comply with the Inflation Reduction Act.