Aju Business Daily

  SEOUL -- SK Innovation, the electric vehicle battery-making wing of South Korea's conglomerate SK Group, has been selected to provide batteries for the first batch of Hyundai Motor's all-electric crossover utility vehicles installed with dedicated platforms that can run up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) on a single charge.

SK Innovation (SKI) will exclusively provide batteries for about 500,000 Hyundai crossover utility vehicles that will use E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform), according to industry sources. Production of Hyundai's first electric model based on E-GMP carrying an 800-volt battery will begin in the first quarter of 2021 at the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan.

The production of electric vehicles installed with E-GMP signals the start of Hyundai's full-fledged campaign to replace combustion engines gradually with hydrogen fuel cells and premium electric batteries.

"Hyundai and Kia have completed basic design work for E-GMP and are conducting various performance tests" at their research center in Hwaseong southwest of Seoul from the second half of this year, said an auto industry official.

Hyundai Motor's affiliates are speeding up the development of related technologies and components. Hyundai Wia, the manufacturer of auto and aircraft parts, has started developing heat management modules for new electric vehicles. In August, Hyundai Mobis broke ground for a new plant in Ulsan to manufacture components for electric vehicles installed with E-GMP.

"Profitability is expected to improve once the launch of electric vehicles by Hyundai and Kia based on E-GMP goes into full swing," said Heungkuk Securities analyst Park Sang-kwon. SKI secured a crucial domestic client after its batteries were picked for the electric model of Hyundai's luxury brand, Genesis, but the auto group may increase the number of suppliers later to secure a stable supply of electric vehicle batteries.