SB LiMotive mulling additional battery plants in U.S., Europe

SB LiMotive, a joint company of Bosch and Samsung SDI, fired up the lines at its Ulsan, South Korea lithium-ion battery plant back in January, but with more “volume projects” in the works, the Ulsan facility could struggle to pump out enough batteries to meet rising demand.

Later this year, the SB LiMotive-powered BMW ActiveE will launch. Then, in 2012, the electrified Fiat 500, sporting SB LiMotive batteries, should hit dealerships. In 2013, another SB LiMotive-powered BMW, the
Megacity
i3, will make its debut. That’s quite a few models, which will need quite a few batteries, and that’s why Bernd Borh, a member of Bosch’s board of management, told Ward’s Auto (sub. req.) that:

The contracts we have on board will fill this factory [Ulsan, South Korea] pretty fast. So, the next step, around 2013, will be to look into a plant for Europe.

Bohr said that additional contracts that are expected to come from automakers in the U.S. would make building a facility in North America the next logical step, but that determination won’t be made until deals are finalized and SB LiMotive confirms that there is ample demand for its li-ion battery packs.

[Source: Ward’s Auto – sub. req.]