[finance daily reporter Jeong kyeong chun] LG Energy Solution will exclusively supply cylindrical batteries to American solar electric vehicle startup Aptera Motors.
LG Energy Solution announced on the 10th that it signed a three-party business agreement (MOU) with Aptera Motors and domestic battery pack manufacturer CTNS at CES 2025, the world’s largest home appliance and information technology show held in Las Vegas, USA on the 8th (local time).
Through this, it has agreed to supply 4.4GWh of cylindrical batteries (2170) to Aptera Motors for seven years from this year to 2031 and actively cooperate in the production of solar electric vehicles, which are considered a new product group in the future mobility market.
The solar electric vehicle ‘Aptera’ developed by Aptera Motors is a new form of mobility that maximizes driving distance by applying solar panels and battery packs simultaneously. It successfully completed a test drive last year, and is scheduled to be released in the US market starting this year after receiving over 50,000 pre-orders.
According to Aptera Motors, this vehicle can travel 643km on a single charge. It can travel 64km a day with just solar panels, making it highly usable for commuting to and from work in the city. It is also considered a representative vehicle of next-generation mobility with a future-oriented design that minimizes air resistance, and has also appeared in a famous American SF movie.
Through this supply contract with Aptera Motors, LG Energy Solution has been able to further accelerate its ‘product and customer portfolio diversification’.
Last year, LG Energy Solution announced its corporate vision of ‘Empower Every Possibility’ and revealed its plan to diversify its portfolio into new business areas with high future growth potential, such as robots, ships, and urban air traffic (UAM). In November of last year, it signed an ‘MOU for battery cell supply contract and technical cooperation’ with Bear Robotics, a mobility platform company based on autonomous robots. Diversification of its business portfolio is possible because LG Energy Solution possesses differentiated customer value capabilities not only in pouch-type batteries but also in cylindrical batteries.
Since first developing cylindrical batteries in 1999, LG Energy Solution has been expanding its scope of application by producing various products, including the recent 46 series batteries. In particular, mass production of the 46 series is expected to begin at the Arizona plant in the U.S. next year, which will allow for a timely response to customer demand.
LG Energy Solution’s Choi Geun-hyeok, head of marketing, said, “LG Energy Solution is the unrivaled leader in the global battery industry and will present differentiated customer value in the next-generation mobility sector as well.” Aptera Motors Co-CEO Chris Anthony said, “This agreement is a significant milestone in bringing solar electric vehicles to market with the reliability and performance that customers expect,” adding, “We are pleased to work with LG Energy Solution and CTNS, which have outstanding expertise, for the future of sustainable transportation.”
