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The South Korean battery maker, which supplies electric car batteries to carmakers including Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co and Hyundai Motor Co, will buy shares in Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation III, a shell company through which Solid Power plans to go public through a merger that will value the combined firm at about $1.2 billion.
“We expect our partnership with Solid Power will play a pivotal role in delivering higher energy, lower-cost batteries to power longer-range electric vehicles,” SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun said in a press release.
The South Korean company in September said it planned to invest 5.1 trillion won ($4.4 billion) to build battery plants in the United States.
Solid-state batteries are a potential game changer for electric vehicles (EV) because they can store more energy, charge faster and are safer than liquid lithium-ion batteries.
They are, however, more difficult and expensive to mass produce and more prone to cracking.
Manufacturers could use existing plants make solid-state batteries, Doug Campbell, the CEO of Solid State told Reuters. The company wanted to commercialise the technology by 2026, he added.
“A solid state battery can potentially enable a dramatically simpler and ultimately lower-cost battery pack,” Campbell said.
($1 = 1,172.5200 won)
