There is a keen interest on LG Energy Solution as the company has been able to prove that its separator films, which were seen as a possible cause of the fires caused by Kona Electric, are not a reasonable cause of the fires. Although it will face a financial consequence as the Hyundai Motor Company decided on a total recall, it will be interesting to see whether it will be able to recover some trusts that were lost by being able to lessen any misunderstanding on its separator films that has followed the company for quite a while.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) announced on Wednesday that it confirmed a possibility that the fires caused by Kona Electrics might had caused by some high-voltage batteries that LG Energy Solution manufactured from its Nanjing plant in the beginning experiencing internal short circuit due to poor battery cell assembly.
The cause that the MOTIE pointed out during the announcement is different from the one that it pointed out back in October last year when the Hyundai Motor Company made a first recall. At that time, the ministry stated that LG Energy Solution’s separator films between cathode and anode were demanded due to poor quality of manufacturing process.
In other words, the ministry pointed to damage to separator films as the cause of the fires. However, the ministry this time pointed to poor battery cell assembly as the cause of the fires.
The ministry reenacted experiments using LG Energy Solution’s battery cells with damaged separator films and came to a conclusion that damaged separator film was not the cause of the fires.
“Although we had conducted an experiment using an electric vehicle battery with a damaged separator film 369 times, not one time caused any fire.” said an official from the MOTIE on Thursday. “As a result, we concluded that damaged separator film could not be the cause of the fires.”
The ministry’s conclusion agrees with LG Energy Solution’s statement that has been made for quite some time. The company has been stating that damaged separator film cannot be the cause of the fires after conducting its own experiments where it found that electric vehicle batteries with damaged separator films only led to a low voltage issue and did not cause any fire. Experts have also believed that a possibility of poor separator film causing a fire is very low. However, a controversy surrounding LG Energy Solution’s separator films had only become bigger due to the statement made by government authorities. Also, a nasty rumor that said the fires happened because LG used Chinese separator films had followed LG Energy Solution like a label.
LG Energy Solution has to face a significant amount of financial burden as it has to replace entire BSAs (Battery System Assembly) of Kona Electrics that were recalled. It is estimated that a total of $900 million (1 trillion KRW) between the Hyundai Motor Company and LG Energy Solution has to be spent for the replacement. Although LG Energy Solution is facing a significant amount of financial burden, it will be able to lessen any misunderstanding with the recent statement made by the MOTIE and turn this issue as an opportunity for recovery.
A representative for LG Energy Solution said that while it is difficult to see poor battery cells, which were pointed as the cause of the fires by the MOTIE on Wednesday, as the direct cause of the fires, the company puts safety of consumers first and plans to actively cooperate with the MOTIE and the Hyundai Motor Company so that the whole recall process can be completed smoothly.
Staff Reporter Kim, Jiwoong | jw0316@etnews.com