Hyundai to invest $100 million in battery startup SolidEnergy Systems

Seoul: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. has invested about $100 million to purchase a stake in a lithium metal battery startup, Yonhap information company reported on Sunday, citing business sources.

“As we now have been investing in varied corporations associated to electrification, our funding in SolidEnergy is a part of that,” an official at Hyundai Motor instructed Yonhap.

Based in 2012, SolidEnergy Systems (SES), which was spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how (MIT), develops anode-free lithium steel batteries. SES shareholders embody Common Motors Co., SK Inc. and Tianqi Lithium Corp., amongst others, in keeping with the corporate’s web site.

In April, Hyundai mentioned throughout its earnings name that the corporate had been creating solid-state batteries and deliberate to mass produce electrical autos (EV) utilizing solid-state batteries in 2030. Hyundai at present sources its batteries for its EVs from SK Innovation Co. Ltd and LG Chem Ltd.’s wholly-owned LG Vitality Answer.

In March, Common Motors introduced a partnership with SES to spice up its battery growth, permitting for elevated electrical car driving vary in a smaller bundle.

Hyundai didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.