Bosch, Samsung Joint Venture for Li-ion Batteries Starts Operations

Sept 2, 2008 15:49 Nikkei Electronics Asia

SB LiMotive Co Ltd, the joint venture (JV) company of Bosch and Samsung SDI, has commenced operations. The objective of the new company is to develop, manufacture, and sell lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications.

It is planned to start series manufacturing of highly efficient lithium-ion battery systems customized to automotive requirements and to market them worldwide in 2011. To achieve this, the JV partners will jointly invest between US$300 million and US$400 million in the next five years.

Headquartered in Suwon, South Korea, SB LiMotive will also apply initially to battery cell development. Further, initial production of lithium-ion cells is also planned in Korea. Roughly 100 associates will be located there. In Germany, a subsidiary based in Stuttgart will be established. Initially, the subsidiary will begin with 40 associates who work in the areas of sales, marketing and system engineering. The location of the manufacturing sites for battery systems will be announced at a later date.

Lithium-ion batteries are the basis for forward-looking technologies in the automobile, such as hybrid or electric drives. According to Bosch and Samsung, a market volume of some three million hybrid vehicles is expected by 2015. The prime objective of the JV is to optimize lithium-ion battery technology to meet the exacting requirements associated with the automobile -- with respect to power density and safety, for example -- and in this way to allow purely electrically powered driving over longer distances.

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