Electric carmakers keep looking past cheaper and safer power options, which means their high-risk ventures are rarely high reward — for companies or investors.
There it is again: Another automaker makes a big announcement about its electrification plans with a battery manufacturer. Going by previous proclamations, that’s not just ambitious but far-fetched.
SK’s focus has been on commercializing high-nickel content batteries, or NCMs. Five years ago, it developed the NCM811 and now the Nickel 9 battery that’s 90% nickel.
For starters, this type of battery has not yet proven to be entirely safe. While SK hasn’t registered an EV battery-related fire, high-nickel content power packs — although they deliver significant energy — have been known to be chemically unstable and prone to combust. Such batteries forced General Motors Co. to recall every EV Bolt vehicle that it’s made since 2017, at a total cost of $1.8 billion to the firms involved.
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