Observation of meetings during the Korea-US summit next month
Expected to discuss battery supply with CEO Peter Rawlinson
It is known that Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong will meet with the management of Lucid Motors in the US for cooperation in electric vehicle batteries. After meeting with BMW chairman Oliver Zipse on June and 12 of last year, Chairman Lee visited Samsung SDI’s Suwon plant in February this year to tour the all-solid-state battery test production (pilot) line, and seems to be focusing on the battery business.
According to the battery industry on the 23rd, Chairman Lee is scheduled to meet with the management of Lucid Motors next month. It is expected that President Yoon Seok-yeol will accompany President Yoon Seok-yeol on his state visit to the United States on April 26 and meet at a Korea-US business roundtable. At Lucid Motors, CEO Peter Rawlinson is expected to discuss with Chairman Lee directly about ways to cooperate with electric vehicle batteries.
Lucid Motors is an American electric vehicle company founded in 2007. Listed on NASDAQ in 2021. Premium electric vehicles worth more than 100 million won are the main focus. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF), led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, is the largest shareholder. In 2018, an investment agreement was signed for $1 billion (approximately 1.1 trillion won at the time).
Crown Prince bin Salman also has a close relationship with Chairman Lee. When Chairman Lee met with King Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in 2018, cooperation with electric vehicle batteries was discussed. It is rumored that at the time, Crown Prince Binsal strongly recommended the construction of a battery factory in Saudi Arabia. However, at the time, Chairman Lee was in a situation where he could not escape the aftermath of the Gukjeong Nongdan incident, and the battery industry was not in the spotlight as it is now, so it was not actually promoted.
When Chairman Lee and Lucid Motors management meet, what can be discussed right away is battery supply. Lucid Motors has used cylindrical batteries from Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solutions. From 2020, LG Energy Solutions is in charge of most of the volume. However, this contract ends in 2023. Samsung SDI can offer Lucid Motors a 46 pie (Φ 46 mm in diameter) cylindrical battery that it has decided to supply to BMW.
In particular, considering the relationship between Chairman Lee and Lucid Motors and Crown Prince bin Salman, and the recent rapid growth of the battery market, there is a possibility that the battery factory construction mentioned in 2018 will be mentioned again. Since 2016, Saudi Arabia has been promoting the ‘Saudi Vision 2030 Project’ with digital, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and bio industries as the next new growth engines.
As Chairman Lee toured the all-solid-state battery pilot line not too long ago, a plan to jointly promote the project could come up. The all-solid-state battery piler line will be completed in the first half of the year. As Chairman Lee directly took care of the business site on this day, it is observed that Samsung’s version of the ‘battery super gap’ strategy will be in full swing.
The Elec = Reporter Suhwan Lee shulee@thelec.kr
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