SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co has invested about $100 million to buy a stake in a lithium metal battery startup, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, citing industry sources.
“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.
Founded in 2012, SolidEnergy Systems (SES), which was spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, develops anode-free lithium metal batteries.
SES shareholders include General Motors Co, SK Inc, Tianqi Lithium Corp among others, according to the company’s website.
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 did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
