South Korea’s national target is suddenly a sodium-ion affair, with a new “Battery Industry Technology Roadmap” released as it wants its battery makers to shift, with sodium-ion batteries now a priority for energy storage systems and lower-cost EVs, and all-solid-state batteries targeting “high-performance EVs, robots and drones, and urban air mobility”
A battery industry roadmap released on September 22 calls for sodium-ion batteries with an energy density of 160 Wh/kg by 2027, rising to 220 Wh/kg by 2030. The government wants full commercialization in 2030, and had companies alongside including LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On, and major Korean materials suppliers.
The ministry’s headline announcements went further, declaring that “K-battery” would retake global market leadership through “selection and focus.” (CATL released its first sodium-ion battery with an energy density of 160 Wh/kg in 2021, and has upgraded throughout.)
The government wants the three cell makers to cooperate on areas it considers non-competitive, including battery dimensions and specifications for components such as current collectors. It also proposes projects in which materials companies develop to a target price and performance level, then cell makers test and purchase the result.
A separate effort would feed EV battery management system data back to cell and materials developers. These projects are scheduled to begin in 2027.
Further, the government proposes a production tax credit from 2027 and measures to encourage battery recycling.
Sodium roadmap
The choice of sodium-ion reflects where South Korean suppliers have lost ground. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) now accounts for around 90% of battery storage deployments worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency. Chinese manufacturers dominate the production of LFP cells and materials, while Korea’s production has generally been in more high-nickel lithium-ion cells for EVs.
Sodium-ion could give Korean companies a route into a market where low cost matters more than maximum energy density, though sodium-ion today remains more expensive. [Read: Sodium-ion: Time to prove its worth]
The roadmap proposes a research program with a total project cost of about KRW 400 billion over 2027–2031 or just under $300 million. The ministry said companies intend to invest around KRW 8 trillion or $8 billion in research and production facilities from 2026 to 2030. It did not say how much of either figure is earmarked for sodium-ion.
The government also wants cell makers to work more closely with materials suppliers and plans to introduce a production tax credit from 2027.
Solid-state in focus
Solid-state batteries are the roadmap’s other major technology bet, with a separate 2027 prototype target and 2030 commercialization target.
On the roadmap, South Korea has set a 2028 target for a solid-state battery with an energy density of 400 Wh/kg, with high-performance EVs, robots, drones and urban air mobility among the potential markets.
The ministry describes its planned 2027 prototype as a “world first,” without explaining what would distinguish it from solid-state prototypes already produced elsewhere, with the 400 Wh/kg target the figure to watch.
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