Major conglomerates invest in battery recycling, EV charging startups

SK signet EV-charging station. [Courtesy of SK signet]

South Korea’s major conglomerates such as the GS, SK, LG, and Hyundai Motor groups are actively investing in startups related to battery recycling and electric vehicle (EV) charging as they prepare for the electric car era. The conglomerates’ holding companies and subsidiaries are also making separate and collaborative efforts to establish an electric vehicle ecosystem.

GS Energy Corp. invested 4.3 billion won ($3.23 million) in startup EVCC, which possesses technology for extracting materials from waste batteries, in February according to the company‘s semi-annual report on Thursday.

GS Ventures, a related company, also invested in Green Minerals, a startup that recovers lithium from waste batteries using chlorella. It also invested in Green Li-ion, which develops recycling facilities for discarded batteries, and ECO RnS Co., which offers eco-friendly solutions related to battery recycling.

GS Group has also ventured into the EV charging business. In 2021, GS Energy entered the EV charger market by launching G-Connect, an EV-charging station operator, through a joint investment and later acquired an additional stake to establish GS Connect.

In the past year, GS Group has continued to invest in venture companies such as Relectrify, which develops technology to improve EV charging efficiency, SCALAR DATA, a mobile integrated service company for EV charging, and EVAR, a company specializing in autonomous EV charging robots.

SK Group’s various affiliates are also actively involved in building EV charging infrastructure businesses.

SK Inc., the group’s investment holding company, acquired Signet EV Inc. (now SK signet Inc.) in 2021 and incorporated it as a subsidiary. SK signet is the world’s second-largest EV charging solutions company, holding the top spot in the U.S. fast-charging market with a more than 50 percent market share.

SK networks Co. invested 10 billion won in EV charger company Ever On last year. At the end of last year, the company acquired SS Charger to launch SK electlink.

SK ecoplant Co. invested a total of $60.84 million in Ascend Elements, a U.S. battery recycling company. Ascend Elements signed a memorandum of understanding to supply recycled materials to EcoPro Group.

LG Group, on the other hand, has been making inroads into the EV charger business and EV electronic components via LG Electronics Inc. Last year, LG Electronics acquired a 60 percent stake in AppleMango Co., an EV charger manufacturer, for 10 billion won. This year, AppleMango changed its name to Hivi Charger and launched charger products.

LG Group also converted a smartphone production line at the LG Digital Park in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, formerly used by its mobile business division, into a production facility for EV chargers. LG Nova, LG Electronics’ North American Innovation Center, has nurtured promising ventures such as Driivz, a platform for EV charging and energy management software, and SparkCharge, a mobile EV charging service company.

LG Energy Solution Ltd. and LG Chem Ltd. are expanding their battery and battery material businesses in North America. The duo, respectively, invested about 60 billion won in Li-Cycle Holdings Corp., the largest battery recycling company in the U.S.

For its part, Hyundai Motor Co. holds a 20 percent stake in Ionity, a charging company that counts automakers such as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) and Ford Motor Co. as investors. The Korean auto giant also spun off its two in-house ventures, Poen and Evacycle. Evacycle has the technology to extract black powder containing valuable metals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt from waste batteries.