As we enter the era of electric vehicles, batteries undoubtedly receive the most prominent attention. The latest technological developments and research to enhance car performance are now focused on batteries, not internal combustion engines. Both the automobile industry and the battery industry are fiercely competing to take the lead.
Against this backdrop, the attention is turning to which battery form factor will ultimately dominate the market. Electric vehicle batteries can be broadly categorized into pouch, cylindrical, and prismatic types by their shapes.
Among them, a pouch-type battery is a pouch-shaped battery that is made by stacking up the main components of cathode, anode, and separator in the pouch case and injecting electrolyte into it. Since this type of battery has a higher energy density than prismatic and cylindrical batteries, an EV equipped with one can drive for longer distances on a single charge. Furthermore, as they are flexible and foldable, they can be customized into various shapes and sizes, making them perfect for a wide range of purposes such as IT devices and electric vehicles.
Pouch-type batteries have gained prominence in the market due to these advantages. EV Volumes, an EV market research firm, predicted that the global EV battery market will grow to 1,000 GWh by 2025 and pouch-type batteries will take more than 45% (450 GWh) of the share. LG Energy Solution is positioning itself as an industry leader in the pouch-type battery market. Indeed, the battery maker has offered pouch-type batteries to global automakers to power their popular models. The adoption demonstrates its status as a company that produces the most reliable pouch-type batteries in the market.
One of the keys that enable LG Energy Solution to lead the pouch-type battery market is its patented technology called “Lamination & Stacking.” Unlike the typical winding process, the lamination and stacking is to stack up bi-cells* on the separators in layers and fold them. This method allows mass-production of batteries that are hardly deformed and have a slim, stable structure as well as high energy density.
*Bi-cell: The basic unit of a battery
According to experts, the popularity of pouch-type batteries is expected to continue into the next generation. LG Energy Solution has innovated the manufacturing process of pouch-type batteries, overcoming limits in energy density, safety, and costs. LG Energy Solution will make further innovations with its own technology and achieve further improvement on the advantages of the form of pouch-type batteries.