LG Chem partners with GS Caltex to develop EV battery services

LG Chem and GS Caltex will team up with partners in the electric vehicle (EV) industry to develop EV battery specialized services using big data.

LG Chem and GS Caltex announced on the 7th of July that they have entered into an “MOU for Improving the Charging Environment and Finding New Business Opportunities,” together with Signet EV, Soft Berry, KST Mobility, and Green Car.

LG Chem and GS Caltex agreed on the need to develop a charging solution to develop an EV ecosystem, and will collaborate with partners in the EV industry by deciding to provide battery services using big data generated during the EV charging process.

This MOU is meaningful in that LG Chem, which is the leader in the global EV battery market, has teamed up with GS Caltex, a company that is not only a traditional powerhouse in the oil refinery business but is also strengthening its competitiveness in the energy-mobility sector, to commercialize services specialized in batteries.

LG Chem possesses the world’s best technologies by procuring more than 17,000 intellectual properties related to EVs through preemptive R&D investments over the past 30 years. In addition, it has supplied batteries to about 3.5 million EVs around the world as of the end of last year, and based on this, it has also obtained long-life battery technologies and life assessment capacities.

GS Caltex, meanwhile, has installed and is currently operating 100kW EV chargers at 44 gas stations/charging stations in South Korea. It plans to continue to expand the EV ecosystem based on its gas stations by having 160 EV charging stations (100kW or higher) by 2022, while also increasing relevant services.

“By providing services specialized to EVs through this MOU, we have created the cornerstone for drivers to use EVs more safely and conveniently,” said LG Chem Automobile Energy Solutions Vice President Dong Myung Kim. “We will become the global leader not only in EV battery product competitiveness, but also in services.”

“The EV charging business not only has to offer faster and more convenient charging services, but should also collect data and offer various vehicle diagnostics services at the charging station,” GS Caltex Strategic Planning Office Executive Director Jung Soo Kim said. “We plan to collaborate with partner companies in the EV ecosystem and gather the strengths of each company to create an organic business model.”

The signing ceremony was attended by LG Chem’s Kim, GS Caltex’s Kim, Signet EV CEO Chul Ho Hwang, Soft Berry CEO Yong Hee Park, KST Mobility CEO Haeng Yeol Lee, and Green Car CEO Sang Won Kim, as well as other prominent industry figures.

The purpose of the MOU is to utilize EV big data collected at charging stations to find various battery specialized services. LG Chem and GS Caltex agreed to first develop a battery safety diagnostic service.

The battery safety diagnostic service will save driving and charging data in a cloud server while an EV (Green Car, KST Mobility) charges at a GS Caltex Charging Station, and using the LG Chem big data analysis and battery service algorithm, the current status and dangers of the battery will be checked and provided not only on the charger panel (Signet EV), but also on the driver’s mobile phone (Soft Berry).

After completing the empirical project by 2021, LG Chem and GS Caltex will launch domestic service businesses. They also plan to expand the battery specialized service business to overseas charging markets starting in 2022.

The two companies also agreed to search for new services such as smart charging and remaining life prediction that can improve the battery life based on the battery safety diagnostic service in the future. Once the service is developed, the driver can receive one-stop services at the GS Caltex EV charging station including battery safety diagnostics, smart charging that applied degeneration prevention algorithms, and remaining life prediction services.