GM Selects S. Korea's LG Chem for Volt Batteries

John Horner
by John Horner

The talk about US-based A123 receiving federal and Michigan taxpayer funding to ramp up American-made batteries for the plug-in electric – gas hybrid Chevrolet Volt seems to have been much ado about nothing. The AP (via Yahoo) reports that GM “has picked LG Chem of South Korea to supply the lithium-ion battery cells for its Chevrolet Volt.” Apparently mindful of its precarious political situation, GM makes a big deal about the South Korean cells being “assembled into battery modules and packs at a factory in Michigan.” In the mid-80s, I was a young engineer in Silicon Valley’s then booming semiconductor industry, and we outsourced the low tech, low value added final packaging and assembly offshore to places like South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Back then, the high value added R&D and primary manufacturing still largely happened in the US. My how times have changed.

GM’s flag-washing continued with statements from its new best friend, LG Chem’s CEO Peter Kim. Kim said his “company may eventually build cells in Michigan; and anticipates that the company’s U.S. subsidiary, Compact Power Inc., will add to its 100 person work force in Troy, Mich.” GM is also quick to point at plans to build a new 31,000 square foot battery lab at the Warren technical center; just as soon as the taxpayer pays for it all, one must presume.

Politics aside, LG Chem won by having the better design: flat cells. A123’s cylindrical cells are said to have inferior power density and heat dissipation characteristics when compared to the LG Chem design. On that basis, it sounds like GM made a good choice. But how it will all play out remains to be seen. Assuming the Volt in production ever enters something approximating mass production.

John Horner
John Horner

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  • JEC JEC on Jan 13, 2009

    I hope LG has improved their design and quality control - because when I worked in telcom I had to deal with a string of LG mobile products with, you guessed it, bad batteries. I'd say between 1/4 and 1/2 the products in our stock were affected. Pretty damn bad if you think about it.

  • Droid800 Droid800 on Jan 13, 2009

    @JEC Two completely different companies buddy. Following your reasoning, people shouldn't watch NBC if they had a bad GE washer and dryer, since they're both GE products.

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
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