Although Volkswagen’s unified cell can save it a lot and offer cheaper electric vehicles, some are not very happy with the news. LGES (LG Energy Solution) and SK Innovation were taken by surprise and thought Volkswagen would talk to them before deciding to adopt a unique and unusual modular battery.
Ironically, the legal dispute between LGES and SK Innovation in the U.S. may be one reason why Volkswagen has decided to have its own battery format independent of chemistry, as the company reported on Volkswagen Power Day.
According Automotive NewsVolkswagen reportedly warned both Korean suppliers that the dispute would only benefit Chinese suppliers such as CATL, which produces prismatic LFP cells.
Although the unified cell looks like a prismatic cell, it appears to be more than just that. Unfortunately, Volkswagen hasn’t revealed much about it, except when it wants to start using it: 2023. That’s probably why we haven’t learned much about it other than what the unified cell will look like.
One of Volkswagen’s reasons for deciding not to use cylindrical or pouch cells anymore is to achieve massive scale with the shape of a unified cell. Another is the goal of making CTP (cell-to-package) batteries, which are cheaper and increase energy density. We bet that the unified cell has a special method of cooling.
What LGES and SK Innovation should be most afraid of is losing all the investments they have made to produce these other cell formats. Volkswagen said it would honor all of its current contracts. South Korean suppliers probably expected the futures to also be based on cylindrical and stock exchange cells, which is clearly not the case for Volkswagen.
If these suppliers cannot find other buyers interested in these formats, they will lose a reasonable amount of money. What they should fear most is that these other automakers will appreciate the Volkswagen idea and try to do something similar.