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By admin, January 5, 2010 9:10 pm

LG Chem said Tuesday it will supply lithium ion batteries for commercial hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to U.S.-based Eaton Corp. for four years starting November.

Eaton, which holds more than 90 percent of the U.S. commercial hybrid vehicle market, will install the batteries in powertrain systems and sell them to global commercial vehicles makers, including Navistar, Peterbilt, Kenworth and IVECO.

LG Chem plans to expand the assembly line of Compact Power Inc., its U.S. unit based in Troy, Michigan, in anticipation of increasing batteries supply to Eaton, the company said in a statement.

Representatives said the South Korean firm will first begin by supplying batteries for commercial HEVs and then expand its supply for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which have batteries that can be recharged when connected to a power outlet.

HEVs are vehicles that are powered by both electricity and gasoline.

Eaton is the latest addition to LG Chem’s growing customer base, including GM, Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and CT&T.

Supplying batteries to Eaton means that LG Chem will be ahead in the global commercial hybrid vehicle market since the North American commercial vehicle market represents over 50 percent of the global market,” said LG Chem Vice Chairman Kim Ban-seok.

He added that the company will continue to aggressively expand into various industrial battery markets to become a leading global supplier.

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By admin, November 9, 2009 9:01 pm

Add another automaker to the supplier list of LG Chem as Hyundai Mobis has announced that the two companies agreed to a joint venture to produce lithium-ion batteries for upcoming hybrid models.

The agreement between Hyundai Mobis and LG Chem is a $34 million joint venture. The two groups will begin operating jointly in the later part of next year. Together they will produce as many as 200,000 lithium-ion battery packs yearly with the anticipated application of Hyundai hybrids.

LG Chem has several joint ventures and supplies batteries to numerous automakers. They are the supplier for the Chevy Volt as well as Hyundai Motors, a company owned by Hyundai Mobis.

The recent agreement with Hyundai Mobis extends the companies previous partnership with LG Chem. LG Chem supplies batteries for existing Hyundai hybrids such as the Elantra and Kia hybrids, but this latest agreement assures support for future hybrids from the Hyundai Mobis conglomerate.

LG Chem has been expanding its production facilities at a steady rate.  Earlier this year they began construction of a new lithium-ion polymer production facility which will supply batter cells for both the Volt and Hyundai models.  With increasing production capabilities and additional partnerships, LG Chem looks to lead the way in li-ion technology.