Enertech International has started developing pouch batteries for electric vehicle batteries. The battery increased the size compared to the previous products, which doubled the energy capacity. It is under the spotlight due to applying domestic high-nickel cathode material technology as the company plans to commercialize the battery in Russian electric vehicles.
According to the industry on the 7th, Enertech International is promoting the development of longer pouch batteries.The pouch is 300mm wide and 100mm long, and is expected to be installed in Russian electric vehicles.
It is the first time that Enertech is supplying a large-capacity pouch to a passenger car. It is understood that Enertech expanded the battery capacity by increasing the horizontal and vertical dimensions to fit the electric vehicle specifications. The battery capacity is 60Ah, which is double the capacity compared to the existing pouch battery capacity of 30Ah.
Enertech has mainly supplied rectangular pouches to electric commercial vehicles such as electric buses. The battery for commercial vehicle is characterized by not significantly limited to the size of the battery. Enertech plans to develop a large-capacity battery based on pouch manufacturing technology. The battery is being developed at the Chungju headquarters aiming to complete the development by next year.
A cathode material made by a domestic battery material company is applied to the pouch in order to increase battery capacity. Performance tests are being conducted on high-nickel cathode materials such as POSCO Chemical, Cosmo Advanced Materials, and EcoProBM to test the battery performance. The cathode material is a nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathode where more than 80% is composed of nickel.Enertech plans to target the Russian electric vehicle market with strengthening cooperation in domestic materials. Enertech is expected to establish a battery factory in Russia to produce pouch batteries for electric vehicles.
Enertech is also developing ultra-long pouch batteries. It is an ultra-long pouch battery that is more than 500mm wide and 100mm long. Pouch battery manufacturers such as LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation are promoting the capacity of electric vehicle batteries by increasing the size of the battery.
An Enertech official said, "Starting with Russian market, we will continue to improve our technology to increase the pouch battery capacity in order to target the overseas electric vehicle market."
Meanwhile, Enertech is also developing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to target the energy storage system (ESS) market. It plans to start supplying LFP batteries from its Russian plant by using domestic LFP battery materials.
By Staff Reporter Jiwoong Kim (jw0316@etnews.com)