SK ON’S SUPER FAST BATTERY SURPRISES THE WORLD
SK On is ahead of its time at CES 2023 EXHIBITION to showcase the “SF Battery” and its R&D process
The company has overcome the limitations of fast charging without shortening battery life and is the first in the industry to win the Best of Innovation Awards.
In 2018, SK On was asked by a global car manufacturer to develop a battery that could reach full charge in 18 minutes. The target of “80% charge in 18 minutes” has never been achieved in the world. At the time, the standard for car manufacturers to fast charge was around 30 minutes, which increased to 50 minutes for mass-produced batteries. But SK On accepted this challenge without hesitation. Two years ago, SK On set up a working group to develop its own fast charging technology.
While SK On unveiled the Super-Fast Battery (SF Battery) at CES 2023, the world’s largest electronics/informatics exhibition, on January 5 local time, SK On’s Head of Battery Development Office 2, Park Ki-soo, presented the development process of the SF Battery below. “The final shape of an electric vehicle depends on how far it can travel and how fast it can be charged. With this information, SK On has already started developing the technology to meet the needs of global automakers.
A key element of fast charging technology is the way in which the resistance of the anode can be reduced during the charging process when the lithium is inserted. SK On has developed a new material that can increase the charging speed by a special coating method that reduces the resistance to an extreme degree. In addition, the new process has minimised the use of butadiene-styrene rubber (SBR) adhesive, which causes cell resistance in the coating.
Thanks to this technology, SK On has set up an automotive manufacturer advisory group on performance and safety testing to detect unexpected problems with the battery after installation in the vehicle. An official from SK On said, “Thanks to the close cooperation between the two companies, we have been able to solve serious problems … the dynamics of joint research have been based on mutual trust.”
The success of SF Battery is even more significant, as SK On has overcome the fundamental limitation of fast charging: shortened battery life. For example, if an electric vehicle’s QC requirement is for 1 000 charge cycles, the warranty for fast charging is usually limited to 300 cycles (700 cycles for normal charging). However, SF Battery can run all 1 000 cycles on fast charge only, ensuring both “fast charging” and “battery life”.
This is the result of carrying out several performance tests – almost three times the usual number of tests. This result was achieved in three years, as SK On set up its own Task Force and a year earlier SK On had already carried out a joint study with the car manufacturer that required the development of SF Battery. When the SF Battery electric vehicle was launched in 2021, it received an explosive market reception. The annual sales target was almost met in February, the first day before the contract was signed. The electric vehicle received numerous awards, such as the “World Car of the Year” award at the “2022 World Car Awards”.
Once again, SF Battery has surprised the world with an unprecedented peak. At CES 2023, the world’s largest technology trade fair, SFB became the first company in the domestic industry to win the “Best of Innovation Awards” (in the “Embedded Technologies” category).
At CES 2023, SF Battery was a real hit and received a lot of praise and recognition from visitors.
Mutazu Shikukani, who works for an American car parts company, said: “It is very surprising that it can be charged to 80 percent in 18 minutes. SK On seems to have developed some fantastic technology.”
Ariel Wagner, Las Vegas resident, said, “The battery has a beautiful design with incredible charging times. If I were buying an electric vehicle, I would buy a car with a battery like this.”
SK On is now working on a further innovation to implement “10-minute fast charging”. An SK On official said. „We are happy that we could be the first ones to win a CES Best innovation award in this industry, however we must work on creating a better performing battery in the future. He added that “through continued innovation, we will continue to meet global expectations for the K-Battery.”