On May 20th, Ford Motor Company in the United States and SK Group in South Korea announced the establishment of a joint venture battery company in North America to meet Ford's future battery needs for electric vehicles. The newly established joint venture will be named BlueOvalSK, with Blue Oval meaning blue oval, derived from the trademark features of Ford and therefore used to refer to Ford.

At present, the two groups have just reached a preliminary intention, and the specific details of the shares are still under discussion. It is expected to be determined in the third quarter. In the initial intention, the newly established joint venture company will achieve an annual battery production capacity of 60 million kilowatt hours, and at least two production plants need to be built to achieve the above capacity. In the long-term plan for electric vehicles previously announced by Ford, Ford will require a minimum annual production capacity of 240 million kilowatt hours of battery supply by 2030, equivalent to approximately 10 production factories. Of this, 140 million kilowatt hours of production capacity will be located in North America, while the remaining capacity will be distributed in Europe and China.

However, according to the editor's cost estimation of the US manufacturing industry, if Ford relies more than half of its production capacity on American factories, the final vehicle cost may not be able to compete with car brands outside the United States. The American Automobile Workers Union has already made a statement: "Automobile manufacturers have a moral obligation to ensure that the work of battery factories provides good treatment and benefits." Looking back at the past relationship between unions and American automobile manufacturers, as well as the decline of the American automobile city of Detroit, the future development path of American battery factories will be very bumpy.

SK Group in South Korea was able to reach a strategic cooperation with Ford Company this time, relying on various forces to protect the two major chemical giants in South Korea, SK and LG, from reaching an intellectual property dispute settlement. Hey? When it comes to the interests of the United States itself, intellectual property issues are no longer an issue. The fate of the situation began in a contract battle in 2019, when SK defeated LG in a bid for a power battery contract with Volkswagen in Germany. SK then spent $2.6 billion to build its first battery factory in North America in Georgia, USA. Despite losing the order, LG began suing SK Group in the United States, alleging that SK had stolen battery technology secrets from his company. The evidence was that SK had had contact with over 80 LG technicians. This lawsuit lasted for two years and was finally brought to the International Trade Commission of the United States for arbitration. At first glance, the International Trade Commission saw it as an intellectual property dispute, and of course, with a righteous and resolute blow, it ruled that SK had violated intellectual property regulations and banned his family from trading with any American company for 10 years. Of course, the orders that were already settled before this are still being carried out as usual, including providing Ford with F-150 pickup truck batteries for 4 years and Volkswagen North America with batteries for 2 years.

How can SK tolerate such anger? So they suicidally threatened the United States that if this ruling was not amended, they would immediately withdraw from the US market, and even the Georgia battery factory, which cost $2.6 billion, would immediately shut down. As soon as these words were spoken, the senator from Georgia became anxious. This is such a big investment that it will affect many job opportunities. He immediately began to pressure the new US President Biden to come forward and preside over justice. Volkswagen is also pressuring the US Congress to properly resolve this matter. The winning LG is certainly very happy, and even jumped out and said, "Everyone is surprised. Our company will make up for all the production capacity that SK has given up.".

Biden has just taken office and is burning three fires, one of which is to approve $174 billion for investment in electric vehicle, power battery production, and charging facilities. When SK and LG got into a quarrel, it disrupted the harmony he had originally arranged. If they lost a strong competitive force, the remaining LG would not be the only one to eat America to the death. Biden had no choice but to send the newly appointed US Trade Representative, Daisy, as a mediator and warned LG, "Don't make a fuss, kid. If it breaks my plan, you'll be good to see.". So, under the pressure and temptation of various forces, SK and LG reached a settlement in April this year, just a few hours before the International Trade Commission's ruling on SK came into effect. The settlement condition is that SK pays LG $1.8 billion in compensation, and the two companies are not allowed to initiate any legal proceedings against each other in the United States and South Korea for the next 10 years. Is this serious? For the benefit of the United States, it is possible to force the two companies not to initiate legal proceedings against each other for 10 days. Does that mean that the two companies can do whatever they want with each other?

In short, the battle between SK and LG has come to an end, benefiting from various forces in the United States and South Korea. For other battery manufacturers, it is absolutely unfair and a serious double standard. So, don't be fooled by the US's constant use of intellectual property to sanction companies from other countries, the fundamental reason is still due to ideological competition. There is a comprehensive competitive relationship between China and the United States, so no matter how low your company's stance is, the United States will believe that you will become a competitor to American companies in the future, and will desperately suppress your development. The country that follows behind the United States with only a horse's head is its own people, and if their own companies make mistakes, they will be punished with three cups and pass. That's just a simple truth.

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Reference:

one https://www.reuters.com/technology/ford-motor-sk-innovation-announce-ev-battery-joint-venture-us-2021-05-20/

two https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/korean-battery-firms-set-announce-deal-resolve-us-trade-dispute-sources-2021-04-10/

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Author Introduction:

Dr. Xie Wei, Bachelor and Master of Materials Science from Tsinghua University, and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas (Austin) in the United States. Mainly engaged in the development of energy storage batteries, has held important positions in multinational corporations and startups, led multiple research and development projects funded by the US Department of Energy, and won the 2013 US Annual 100 Best Research and Development Technology Award. Published 17 papers in top journals in materials science and energy storage, served as a reviewer for 5 international journals, and has applied for 17 international invention patents.

Introduction to ZH Energy Storage Company:

Shenzhen ZH Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. is committed to the research and development, promotion, and application of energy storage technology, aiming to help achieve China's goal of "carbon neutrality" through the application of electrochemical energy storage technology. In the early stages of development, the company focused on providing technical support and consulting services to the Chinese energy storage market by leveraging its accumulated industry experience and outstanding research and development capabilities in the field of energy storage. At the same time, the company focuses on conducting research and analysis on the Chinese energy storage market, and developing or introducing the most advanced and effective energy storage technologies for the Chinese market.

Company's technical research and development direction: water-based energy storage batteries, lithium-ion battery materials, fuel cells, ion exchange membranes, coatings and adhesives, membrane separation technology.

Domestic business: Technical cooperation and academic exchange between liquid flow batteries and high-energy density lithium-ion batteries, technical lectures on the company's technology research and development direction, research and development consulting, and guidance on paper writing.