LG Electronics poised to enter electric vehicle charging market

[Photo provided by LG Electronics]

LG Electronics Inc. will introduce electric vehicle chargers as early as next month as the multinational electronics company under LG Group has been preparing to enter the market after acquiring a series of EV charging companies since last year and is now poised to start its business in earnest.

According to industry sources on Wednesday, LG Electronics recently completed preparations to mass-produce EV chargers at LG Digital Park in Pyeongtaek, near Seoul, and is weighing the timing of their launch. The smartphone production line used by the former mobile business division has been changed to a charger production line.

LG Group’s strategy is that major affiliates, including LG Electronics, will provide all EV charging-related services from charger manufacturing to solutions and platforms.

In order to start the EV charging business, LG Electronics registered e-Centric with the Korean Intellectual Property as a trademark for its EV charging solution. Through this solution, charging station operators can easily manage chargers at each charging station and receive data they want, such as monthly earnings and energy consumption of each charging station.

LG Electronics is also hiring more employees for its EV charging business. The newly established EV charging business office within the Business Solutions Division will hire research and development personnel until March 26 and the new staff will be responsible for designing and developing EV charger circuits and developing charger equipment.

According to consulting firm Roland Berger, the global EV charging market is expected to grow rapidly to $325 billion in 2030 from $55 billion this year. The South Korean government, meanwhile, plans to boost the number of electric cars to 3 million by 2030 from 400,000 last year. Kim Ji-san, head of the research center at Kiwoom Securities Co., predicted that LG Electronics will see its charger sales double every year until 2027.

Furthermore, LG Electronics acquired a 60 percent stake in Korean EV charger solutions provider, AppleMango Co., which was established in 2019 and has source technology in manufacturing slow and fast chargers for household and commercial use. LG Electronics also took over Speel Co.’s EV charging division through AppleMango in December last year.

LG Group sees the EV charging business as a new growth engine and is aiming to create an ecosystem that encompasses all EV charging services from battery production to charger manufacturing and operation and platform services. LG Energy Solution Ltd. produces and sells batteries; LG Display Co. makes displays to be installed at EV charging stations; LG Innotek Co. produces charging components such as converters; and LG Uplus Corp. oversees the platform business.

In addition, VoltUp, an integrated EV charging service platform application launched at the end of last year, provides various services, including geographic information on charging stations, making reservations for charger use and payment. LG Uplus also acquired some of the related business from LG HelloVision Corp. in January.