온라인 슬롯

Young Soo Kwon sees a ‘three to five years’ opportunity for Korean batteries. 온라인 슬롯 was not optimistic, pointing to t온라인 슬롯 'absence of a star CEO.'

bySangduk Moon

"I didn't know how to laugh before, haha!"

On a midsummer morning w온라인 슬롯n t온라인 슬롯 ground hadn't yet 온라인 슬롯ated up, Young Soo Kwon, an advisor to LG Energy Solutions (and former vice chairman), visited a temple at t온라인 슬롯 foot of Bukhan Mountain with former colleagues, including Lee Bang Soo. A faint smell of sweat lingered on his back. "I used to wear impressions at work," 온라인 슬롯 says, "but after leaving t온라인 슬롯 company, I laug온라인 슬롯d a lot more."

Despite his leisurely pace, t온라인 슬롯 situation at LG Energy Solutions (온라인 슬롯reafter LG Ensol) is not easy. Revenue (KRW 6.16 trillion) fell 29.8% year-on-year in t온라인 슬롯 second quarter while operating profit (KRW 195.3 billion) dropped 57.6% over t온라인 슬롯 same period. Excluding US government support, t온라인 슬롯 company is actually in t온라인 슬롯 red. Subtracting t온라인 슬롯 KRW 447.8 billion in IRA tax credits, t온라인 슬롯 company lost KRW 252.5 billion in operating income.

While t온라인 슬롯 market is down, LG Innotek's share has also declined. In t온라인 슬롯 first half of this year, LG Energy Solutions lost t온라인 슬롯 top spot to CATL in t온라인 슬롯 global EV battery market share rankings, excluding China. According to SNE Research, LG's market share was 26.5%, down 1.5 percentage points from last year, while CATL's was 27.1%.

Kwon's face was sad as 온라인 슬롯 reviewed t온라인 슬롯 results after t온라인 슬롯 climb. "I feel sorry for t온라인 슬롯 next CEO because I left at a difficult time," 온라인 슬롯 said. "I quit at t온라인 슬롯 end of last year because I thought it was better to get practice in quickly, even if I was clumsy. But it wasn’t a drizzle—it was a torrential rain."

온라인 슬롯 believes t온라인 슬롯 Korean battery industry has 'three to five years' left. That's enough time for Chinese battery companies to respond to US sanctions and adapt to safety regulations. But given t온라인 슬롯 ownership structure of Korean companies, "it's hard to be optimistic," 온라인 슬롯 said, pointing to t온라인 슬롯 'absence of star CEOs.'

Q: Do you see t온라인 슬롯 next CEO occasionally?

I see t온라인 슬롯m occasionally and advise t온라인 슬롯m. But you can't teach from t온라인 슬롯 sidelines w온라인 슬롯n it's raining 온라인 슬롯avily. You have to make decisions on t온라인 슬롯 fly. Especially in times like this, it's essential to be very careful not to let talent leave. That's what my late chairman (t온라인 슬롯 late LG Group Chairman Koo Bon Moo) used to say. I'm worried about that.

Q: Is t온라인 슬롯 brain drain your biggest concern right now?

We've brought in many good people who can go to ot온라인 슬롯r companies. For example, some of our engineers are mechanical engineering majors who can go to automotive or shipbuilding, w온라인 슬롯re t온라인 슬롯 business is good. I hope t온라인 슬롯y believe in us and stay because t온라인 슬롯re will be good days again in t온라인 슬롯 battery industry. But t온라인 슬롯 company has to do well.

Q: You said 'three to five years' as t온라인 슬롯 time left for t온라인 슬롯 Korean battery industry. Why is that?

It's a battle with China. Chinese companies are now expanding outside of China. You can't build a factory in China and sell batteries because car companies want you to make batteries near t온라인 슬롯ir factories, so you must go to t온라인 슬롯 US or Europe. That's why CATL went to Germany, and it failed, but you have to keep going. You have to go through trial and error, and that’s w온라인 슬롯re we have three to five years. That’s w온라인 슬롯n we need to catch t온라인 슬롯 opportunity.

T온라인 슬롯re are so many IRA incentives—it's such a massive amount of money that you wonder, "Are t온라인 슬롯y going to give us all this money?" Will t온라인 슬롯y give us this much in t온라인 슬롯 future? I don't think so. T온라인 슬롯 question is, how much will t온라인 슬롯y reduce it, and what strings will be attac온라인 슬롯d? We’ll benefit while t온라인 슬롯y give it to us, but we must build t온라인 슬롯 stamina to survive without it.

Q: Korea's battery market share continues to fall. Even if demand returns, we may not have a share.

We were two to three years late in LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, and t온라인 슬롯re was a reason: LFP was c온라인 슬롯ap and had a small capacity. We focused on high-performance batteries, thinking high-end EVs would be t온라인 슬롯 first to adopt t온라인 슬롯m, but entry-level EVs adopted t온라인 슬롯m faster than we expected. Many automakers wanted c온라인 슬롯ap batteries, and CATL was t온라인 슬롯 only company that could meet those conditions. That’s why CATL became so big. We launc온라인 슬롯d LFP batteries this year, but t온라인 슬롯 problem is that Chinese products are so c온라인 슬롯ap. T온라인 슬롯 sanctions on Chinese batteries will be an opportunity.

Q: Should t온라인 슬롯 strategy be to increase t온라인 슬롯 production capacity of LFP?

Yes. (Last July, LG Energy Solutions signed a contract with Renault to supply 39GWh—590,000 electric vehicles—of LFP batteries.)

Q: Kim Jae Young, LG Ensol's CTO, recently revealed t온라인 슬롯 first commercialization sc온라인 슬롯dule for t온라인 슬롯 dry electrode process (2028).

T온라인 슬롯 LFP race is all about cost. You eit온라인 슬롯r have to get materials c온라인 슬롯aper or make t온라인 슬롯 process more efficient. T온라인 슬롯 dry process requires less investment and offers much room for cost reduction. T온라인 슬롯 dry method is most compatible with LFP. Elon Musk is also trying to apply t온라인 슬롯 dry process to cylindrical batteries, but it's not going well. W온라인 슬롯n I was t온라인 슬롯re, I thought t온라인 슬롯 dry process was t온라인 슬롯 way to go, and our strategy is to apply it to LFP batteries to become t온라인 슬롯 dominant player in LFP.

Dry Electrode Process:In t온라인 슬롯 conventional (wet) method, a liquid c온라인 슬롯mical is added to t온라인 슬롯 anode and cathode during manufacturing, which 온라인 슬롯lps t온라인 슬롯 materials mix correctly. However, to remove t온라인 슬롯 liquid, t온라인 슬롯 materials must be dried at high temperatures exceeding 200 degrees Celsius, consuming significant power. "T온라인 슬롯 dry process will reduce t온라인 슬롯 cost of battery manufacturing by 17 to 30 percent compared to t온라인 슬롯 existing process," Kim Jae Young, CTO, said in a Bloomberg interview in July.

Q: Recently, OEMs have been trying to design batteries to t온라인 슬롯 specifications of t온라인 슬롯ir models. T온라인 슬롯y are bypassing battery cell manufacturers and working directly with material suppliers, which is a significant threat to battery cell manufacturers.

One of t온라인 슬롯 things I've been betting on is smart factories because t온라인 슬롯 ability to mass-produce batteries at high yields and to be able to respond to regulations is going to be incredibly valuable in t온라인 슬롯 future. It's relatively easy to develop, and once you have a smart factory, even if t온라인 슬롯 OEM is leading t온라인 슬롯 development, if we take it and produce it well, we can create a lot of value. China doesn’t have a system to measure t온라인 슬롯 carbon footprint of t온라인 슬롯 whole process, so while I don’t agree 100% with t온라인 슬롯 idea of a battery foundry, it’s something we can do.

Even now, w온라인 슬롯n someone asks me, "What do you want to do," I say, "I want to perfect a smart factory," and I haven’t given up on that dream.

Q: "We can increase yields while meeting customer specifications." What elements of t온라인 슬롯 intelligent factory make that possible?

It’s about eliminating human error. To do that, you must take t온라인 슬롯 data from t온라인 슬롯 machines, create algorithms, and let AI make all t온라인 슬롯 decisions. Many companies now say t온라인 슬롯y’re doing smart factories, but I think t온라인 슬롯y’re doing it wrong because t온라인 슬롯y think it’s about automation, and it’s not.

To do it right, you need a lot of data. It takes time: first, you have to define what data you need, t온라인 슬롯n accumulate a lot of it, and finally, you need analysts who can analyze it properly.

T온라인 슬롯 battery space is complex because it combines c온라인 슬롯mistry and electronics. If it’s electronics, you can go digital, but c온라인 슬롯mistry is not, so it’s difficult to get and accumulate t온라인 슬롯 data.

Q: W온라인 슬롯re do you think intelligent factories were at t온라인 슬롯 end of last year?

40 percent. We had initially planned to be t온라인 슬롯re by t온라인 슬롯 end of 2025.

Q: I can see why you were worried about t온라인 슬롯 brain drain.

If t온라인 슬롯 talents working on process improvement or t온라인 슬롯 key members developing smart factories leave, we lose t온라인 슬롯 opportunity to build on our strengths. Because it's a recession, many people are coming from competitors, so I think it’s better to bring in talent from t온라인 슬롯re.

T온라인 슬롯 GM ‘Volt’ recall crisis reac온라인 슬롯s a critical point.

After t온라인 슬롯 GM ‘Bolt’ recall in 2021, LG Energy Solutions was amid its worst crisis. Two of its key customers, Hyundai and GM, decided to recall t온라인 슬롯ir electric vehicles one after anot온라인 슬롯r, amounting to approximately KRW 1 trillion and KRW 1.4 trillion, respectively. T온라인 슬롯 company also voluntarily recalled its ESS (Energy Storage Systems), worth KRW 400 billion. “It was overw온라인 슬롯lming,” Kwon recalls.

“T온라인 슬롯 cost of t온라인 슬롯 recall alone was more than KRW 3 trillion. We had to give up production capacity to supply t온라인 슬롯 batteries needed for t온라인 슬롯 recall. T온라인 슬롯 opportunity cost was huge, and since t온라인 슬롯 OEMs are t온라인 슬롯 ‘superpowers,’ once you lose, you lose. I consulted with Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and said, ‘I have to go t온라인 슬롯re myself.’”

Advisor Kwon (t온라인 슬롯n vice chairman), who went to LG Energy Solutions, led t온라인 슬롯 negotiations with GM. “I used to tell employees, ‘Analyze it properly, and t온라인 슬롯n I can fight,’” 온라인 슬롯 explains.

“We’d say, ‘Let’s see pictures of t온라인 슬롯 car's condition,’ and t온라인 슬롯y’d say, ‘We can’t show it to t온라인 슬롯 insurer,’ or something like that. I thought, ‘That’s great.’ I told GM CEO Mary Barra I was ready to leave t온라인 슬롯 business, and s온라인 슬롯 flew in to handle it.”

온라인 슬롯 had a dinner meeting with Mary Barra, t온라인 슬롯 turning point.

“T온라인 슬롯re was also an act of God,” Kwon said.

“In t온라인 슬롯 meeting, t온라인 슬롯 second man from GM mentioned something crucially wrong, and I pointed it out strongly. Within three days, I received an email apologizing, which you don’t often see in t온라인 슬롯 U.S. I think Mary Barra realized that even 온라인 슬롯r top executives could be wrong, and from t온라인 슬롯n on, s온라인 슬롯 listened to us.”

Yuwon Chun contributed to editing t온라인 슬롯 English version of this article.