SK Innovation is participating in Daegu International Future Auto Expo (DIFA) 2021, held at EXCO in Daegu for 4 days from October 21st to 24th. DIFA is the largest exhibition specializing in future vehicles (electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, autonomous driving, etc.) in Korea.

DIFA 2021 is an expo participated by not only Korean but also global companies that own the core technologies of the future car industry to showcase the latest global trends. The expo has been held annually since 2017, hosted by Daegu Metropolitan City and Korea Academy for Automotive Engineering, and organized by Daegu Exhibition and Convention Center (EXCO) and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. DIFA is supported by various ministries of Korean government.

At DIFA 2021, SK Innovation is introducing the company’s innovative technologies that will lead the electric vehicle (EV) battery market. Particularly, SK Innovation emphasized its status as a world’s major battery maker with outstanding safety by setting up a booth that shows its differentiated battery technologies. Many visitors has toured around the company’s booth from the first day of DIFA 2021.

▲ Visitors look around SK Innovations booth at Daegu International Future Auto Expo (DIFA) 2021

On the right side of the booth, SK Innovation displays the Hyundai IONIQ5, a strategic EV model unveiled by the car maker in February this year. This EV is equipped with SK Innovation’s NCM8 battery, a High-Ni (Nickel) (Ni) type that uses 80% of nickel, which is currently among the highest level in the industry.

High Ni battery brings better performance with high energy, but it also difficult to manufacture because it requires a high level of safety technology. The driving range of the IONIQ 5 equipped with SK Innovation’s battery is about 429 km, and it can be charged to 80% in just 18 minutes when fast charging.

▲ An IONIQ 5 electric car that uses SK Innovation’s NCM8 battery is displayed at SK Innovation’s booth at Daegu International Future Auto Expo (DIFA) 2021

In the Tech Zone, visitors can find the core of SK Innovation’s EV battery technology: ▲Safer than EVer (safety), ▲Faster than EVer (quick charging), and ▲Longer than EVer (long-distance driving).

SK Innovation called the secret to ensuring stability while manufacturing high-performance batteries ‘Safer than Ever’. After delivering about 300 million battery cells, the company has found no fire accident, proving its unrivaled battery safety.

▲ (Lef) The “Safer than EVer, Faster than EVer, Longer than EVer” technologies introduced at SK Innovation’s booth at DIFA 2021/ (Right) The “Safer than EVer” explanation displayed at SK Innovation’s booth at DIFA 2021

One of the main factor that makes SK Innovation battery cells safe is that they are using battery separators produced by SK IE Technology, a subsidiary specializing in information and electronic materials business. Through its proprietary technology, SK IE Technology can manufacture a thin but strong separator with a thickness of 5 micrometer, which is one-fifth the thickness of a human hair. A thin separator is desirable because it allows the active movement of power-generating ions, which increases battery output and speeds up charging, but it must be made with advanced technology, or else the separator can easily teared and lead to fire.

Other key points of the safety of SK Innovation’s EV battery cells are the Z-folding technique and thermal propagation test. Z-folding is a technique that wraps the anode and cathode in zigzags, thereby significantly reducing the possibility of two materials coming into contact and allowing precise manufacturing even in high-speed production systems. Thermal propagation test refers to a safety measure where heat does not spread to surrounding cells when a fire occurs in some cells in a battery pack, where dozens of battery cells are lined up. Fundamentally, SK Innovation’s self-designed E-pack can block heat, so it can prevent spreading fire.

▲ The explanation of “Faster Than EVer” and “Longer than EVer” at SK Innovation boot at DIFA 2021.

SK Innovation also introduces its “Faster Than EVer” – a high-speed charging technology that can fully charge within just 15 minutes. The key is the multi-tab technology, which increases the number of anode and cathode tabs to two, which had been only one each in the existing batteries. Electrons must move from the anode to the cathode for the battery to charge, so if the number of tabs is increased to two, the distance traveled by electrons is reduced by half.

The “Longer than EVer” explains SK Innovation’s unique post-generation cathode and anode material technologies that can extend the driving range.

▲ SK Innovation introduced its BaaS (Battery as a Service) at its booth at DIFA 2021

In addition, visitors can learn more about SK Innovation’s BaaS (Battery as a Service) with strategic platforms such as Rental, Recharge, Reuse, and Recycle that can complete the whole value chain of the battery business.

▲ The Next Generation vision introduced by SK Innovation

SK Innovation shows its battery roadmap and next-generation batteries through the “Next Generation” corner at DIFA 2021. Visitors can check the current status and prospects of SK Innovation’s EV battery business, which have both high safety and long lifespan among high-nickel batteries with optimal cell design and process technology. In addition, SK Innovation announced that it is currently developing a lithium metal all-solid-state battery with higher energy density/safety than existing batteries based on its own technology.

Visitors who came to check SK Innovation booth on the first day of DIFA 2021 gave various compliments, showing their expectations in the future growth of the company’s EV battery business.

On the first day DIFA 2021, Daegu Metropolitan City Mayor Kwon Young-jin and Daegu City Council Chairman Jang Sang-soo attended the opening ceremony of the event. In his opening speech, Mayor Kwon Young-jin said, “Through DIFA 2021, we can check the future of automobiles, promote the development of future cars together, and collaborate with each other.”

Afterwards, Mayor Kwon and Daegu Metropolitan City Council Chairman Jang Sang-soo visited SK Innovation’s booth to directly check the company’s differentiated battery technology. In particular, Mayor Kwon Young-jin showed great interest in SK Innovation’s Z-folding technology, which is the key of the company’s unrivaled battery safety.

▲ (Right) Daegu Metropolitan City Mayor Kwon Young-jin (second from right) and Daegu City Council Chairman Jang Sang-soo (first from right) visit SK Innovation’s booth at DIFA 2021