LG Plans Dry Battery Electrode Commercialization

LG Energy Solution is betting on its own dry battery technology for commercialization. Specifically, by 2028.

The South Korean company has plans to start mass production of its dry-coating process in 2028, Kim Je-Young, LG Energy Solution’s chief technology officer told Bloomberg News.

"Among battery competitors, LG is the top” in terms of dry-coating technology, Kim Je-young, who became LG Energy Solution’s chief technology officer in December, said in an exclusive interview at the company’s headquarters in Seoul, reported The Japan Times. "We started 10 years ago.”

Tesla had planned to use the dry method technology (also called dry battery electrode or DBE) in 2020, however, the company was only able to successfully implement the process on the anode part of the battery, Reuters reported. Though Tesla actually did begin using the DBE process on its 4680 battery cells in March 2023, Powder & Bulks Solids reported.

Volkswagen in July 2022 launched PowerCo, a subsidiary responsible for the global battery business. The car manufacturer plans on actual production in 2025.

In April, AM Batteries announced it was partnering with Zeon to develop dry battery electrode (DBE) production using a unique and revolutionary binder.

Other manufacturers who are rumored to want in on the technology include Samsung, CATL, Ford, and GM.

In this video, you can see the difference between LG's proposed DBE process and Tesla's.

LG plans to complete a pilot production line for its dry-coating process in the fourth quarter, and start full-scale production in 2028, Kim said. He estimates the dry method could lower battery manufacturing costs by between 17% and 30%.

The energy solutions company is betting on a leapfrog innovation such as dry coating to increase its efforts to compete with Chinese battery makers, The Japan Times article added.

The dry electrode manufacturing process that LG is developing can be applied to both cathodes and anodes, regardless of the size of the cathode particles, Kim said. Applying dry electrode manufacturing to cathodes with smaller size particles is very challenging, he added.