SK On has repeatedly hinted that it is not going to limit the range of lithium batteries produced to versions with a high nickel content. As a more affordable alternative, batteries without cobalt, but with a higher manganese content, will be launched, and LFP batteries will be located in the initial price range. Their company will start producing in 2025 in China.

The corresponding statements were made last week by the executive vice president of SK On Jason Lee, according to him, by 2025 the company is going to launch the production of lithium batteries based on iron phosphate. They are able to cost 20% less than nickel-cobalt ones in production, but this gap remains only if the enterprises are located in China, as a representative of SK On explained. For this reason, the company will start producing LFP batteries in China, although the geography will expand in the future.

As Jason Lee made it clear, the release of LFP batteries in Europe is still able to maintain a 15 percent advantage in cost, but it is not economically feasible to release them in the United States. At the same time, SK On is building facilities in the US and intends to launch them by 2026, but will produce batteries of a different type on them. It is important to understand that it was precisely the emphasis on the chemical composition of LFP and the active use of raw materials of Chinese origin that helped Chinese companies such as CATL to become leaders in the global market for traction batteries. Foreign competitors often attribute government subsidies to these factors, but now you can be sure that the Korean manufacturer also considers China the most profitable platform for the production of cheap batteries. It was previously noted that the LFP batteries of the Korean SK On will have a package layout, and not a prismatic shape, like those of Chinese competitors. This will increase the cell density inside the battery and increase its total capacity.