It all stems from South Korea’s philosophy on green technologies: they are convinced this is an “unavoidable choice”, as President Lee Myung-Bak said during a ceremony. So, with this idea in mind, they set to work: the LG Chem Company has just announced in Seoul that it now owns the world’s largest battery plant for electric cars.
This philosophy is particularly useful since it not only benefits the environment, but also the country’s economy. And it is particularly well-timed now since Japan had its factories hit or their activity interrupted by the tsunami more than two weeks ago.
One man’s sorrow, another man’s joy. This leaves room for South Korea to take on orders from Japanese automakers, its own Hyundai and the American General Motors.
For one thing, the new plant is able to produce lithium-ion batteries for 100,000 electric vehicles. From the profit they hope to make, the company plans to use $1.84 billion in the two years to follow to set up a few more plants, one in South Korea and one in the United States.
When completed, LG Chem is expected to produce batteries for 350,000 vehicles a year, which would secure its place as a major producer by 2015, since its future profit is estimated at $16 trillion. By all means, this “green” industry is clearly worth investing in!
