Lotte Chemical, Soelect join forces to expand electric car battery production in U.S.

On Tuesday, South Korea’s Lotte Chemical and North Carolina-based electric vehicle battery maker Soelect announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding indicating a $200 million joint venture to create next-generation EV batteries. 

Soelect’s LiX batteries are made with lithium metal anodes, which the company says can charge faster and offer longer ranges for EVs compared to EV batteries produced with anodes made with graphite or silicon. The company says the anode in its batteries is also more reusable than others. 

Soelect has received over $13 million since its foundation in 2018, which includes an investment from General Motors earlier this year. GM stated that the investment “further expands [GM’s] efforts to accelerate the advancement of battery chemistries” and that Soelect’s developments “could serve as an enabler for both future lithium-metal and solid-state EV battery anode designs.”

At that time, Soelect founder Jin Cho said his company already had over 20 additional investors. 

Meanwhile, Lotte Chemical is working to develop next-generation EV batteries and is experimenting with “key components” such as “electrode foils, separators and organic solvents for electrolytes.” According to its website, the company has an “extensive range of products from polymer to megatrend product groups [that] is widely used in household goods that we frequently encounter in our everyday lives, as well as cutting-edge new materials.”

Assuming the partnership goes as outlined in the memorandum of understanding, Soelect should be at high-volume production by 2025.

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