■ First meeting with the public since the spin-off from SK Innovation last October, exhibiting know-hows for decades cutting edge techs

■ ambition of being a global market leader, based on its three key strengths, “safety, eco-friendliness, and high quality”

SK On is participating in InterBattery 2022, the largest annual battery exhibition in Korea, held in COEX, Seoul, for three days from March 17. At the event, SK On unveils its innovative products and future vision to the public for the first time since the split-off last October.

With a booth space of 450 square meter, SK On displays its technologies under the theme of “Power On (Driving Forward).” The theme contains the message of making a new bold step forward to reflect the company’s name, “SK On,” as a new independent corporation after the split-off from SK Innovation last October.

This time, SK On has changed its slogan into a combination of numbers and symbols to deliver a more simplified and intuitive message. Specifically, the old slogan ‘Safer than EVer’, ‘Faster than EVer’, ‘Longer than EVer’ now has been denoted as “0 (zero fire),” “-(shorter charging time),” and “+ (longer driving range).”

SK On’s booth at InterBattery 2022 is divided into multiple zone as follows: ▲the “Start On” zone, introducing SK On and highlighting the corporate image; ▲the “Always On” zone, introducing the market-leading innovative technologies, partnerships, battery services, etc.; ▲the “Beyond Expectation” zone, presenting the company’s future objectives; and ▲the “On Your Side” zone, introducing projects for coexistence with the environment across the whole life cycle of batteries.

The “Start On” zone begins from the entranceway of the booth. SK On has made the tunnel entrance in a shape of a power-on button. It symbolizes a new start of the company facing a new age. Upon passing the end of the tunnel, visitors are greeted by SK On’s NCM9 battery, the essence of SK On’s cutting-edge technologies, placed at the front. The NCM9 battery is a high-performance battery that has the most powerful performance among existing lithium-ion batteries. It was selected as a CES 2022 Innovation Awards honoree in two categories earlier this year.

At the “Always On” zone, the company introduces its unrivaled, ever-improving safety technologies, Baas (Battery as a Service), etc. Particularly, SK On showcases the production process for its best-in-industry safety technologies that are proven by zero cases of fire in electric vehicles (EVs) while approximately 350 million battery cells have been mounted in them.

More specifically, the company introduces the premium separator membrane that prevents direct contact between anodes and cathodes as well as the Z-folding, the technique when stacking the separators inside the battery. Moreover, the company unveils the “S-Pack” technology, which blocks fire to prevent spreading to the entire battery pack. Top-quality cathode materials, which enable the production of high-performance batteries, are also on display.

Various automotive manufacturers, such as Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and Ferrari, which are in partnership with SK On for the battery supply, provided their vehicle models to highlight the firm cooperative relationship. This has made SK On’s booth at InterBattery 2022 look like a mini motor show that attracted many visitors from the first day of the event. Especially, along with Hyundai Genesis GV60 and Mercedes-Benz EQA, Ferrari’s PHEV model SF90 Spider is also introduced at SK On’s booth this time as well. It is showed in “Performance Zone,” offering visitors an intriguing plan of Ferrari, which is widely known as a manufacturer of high-performance ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) supercars, to go electric.

A representative of SK On shared that by showing that not only the widely known electric cars but also performance focused supercars are using SK On’s battery, the company can demonstrate its diverse portfolio of products and high-end technology.

Besides, at InterBattery 2022, SK On also presents the battery diagnosis services, which check battery life, detect anomalies, and inform drivers about them. Among them, the company’s self-developed “BaaS AI (Battery as a Service Artificial Intelligence)” monitors the battery status.

At the “Beyond Expectation” zone, the company introduces its fast-growing business projects and presents its objective. SK On is aiming to expand its production capacity to 500GWh by 2030 from 40GWh at the end of last year to become a global number one company in the industry. The scale of the company’s backlog order reached 1,600GWh by the end of 2021, which is on par with top-level market competitors. This is an increase of more than 50 times compared to 30GWh in 2016.

At the “On Your Side” zone, SK On showcases its endeavor to protect the environment across battery’s life cycle from base battery materials, production, charging, used battery collection, to recycling.

“We strive not only for fortifying the status of “Battery Korea” through our relentless advancement of technology, but also strengthening the ESG management through eco-friendly technologies,” said Jee Dong-seob, CEO of SK On.

SK On is known to be one of the most rapidly growing battery maker in the world. According to SNE research, last year, SK On (SK Innovation) ranked fifth in the global electric vehicle battery market share, up 5 steps compared to 2019 ranking.

Previously, on March 14 (KST), SK On announced its decision to build a joint venture for electric vehicle battery production in Turkey with Ford and Koç Holding. This is another joint project of “SK On-Ford battery alliance” after their cooperation in the U.S market. Besides Ford, Hyundai, Ferrari, and Mercedes-Benz, other partners of SK On are Kia, Volkswagen, Polestar, Beijing Automotive Group, and so on.

[Photos]

(Photo 1, 2, 3) At InterBattery 2022, SK On displays multiple electric vehicles including Hyundai Genesis GV60, Mercedes-Benz EQA, and Ferrari SF90 Spider to highlight the partnership with global automakers.

(Photo 4) SK On CEO Jee Dong-seob (second from right) welcomes Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Sung-wook (second from left), President of Korea Battery Industry Association and Samsung SDI Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun (first from left), and Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho during their visit to SK On’s booth at InterBattery 2022 on March 17.

(Photo 5) SK’s On booth at InterBattery 2022