SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd (051910.KS) said on Tuesday it will exclusively supply electric vehicle (EV) batteries to U.S. electric carmaker Lucid Motors, which plans to start production of its Lucid Air sedan later this year.
The South Korean EV battery maker, which counts General Motors (GM.N) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) among its customers, will supply cylindrical batteries for the U.S. EV maker’s standard Lucid Air models starting in the second half of this year to 2023, the company said in a statement.
LG Chem did not reveal the size or value of the supply contract with Lucid Motors under the contract.
Lucid will start the production of its Lucid Air sedan in late 2020 in the U.S. state of Arizona, the automaker said in a statement.
“The agreement with LG Chem puts Lucid on the best possible path to production for the Lucid Air, ensuring the necessary energy density and cell availability to fulfill our promise of class-leading range to consumers,” Lucid Motors CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement.
The supply contract comes after a U.S. trade panel earlier this month made a preliminary ruling in favour of LG Chem, which had accused crosstown rival SK Innovation (096770.KS) of misappropriating trade secrets.
Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lincoln Feast.