SK Signet held an opening ceremony on the 5th, 7 months after an initial investment of $15 million (21.3 billion) through a board meeting in October last year to build a US production base in Plano, Texas. The company plans to respond to demand by increasing its investment to $37 million (50 billion won) in the future. / photo = Reporter Park Joon Shaik
5 (local time), Plano, an industrial satellite city of Dallas, Texas, United States. Texas, which provided unprecedented tax incentives to attract the industry, has more than doubled home prices in the area, known as the electric vehicle charging industrial group.
That’s because when the US government decided to issue a subsidy of about $8 billion (104 trillion won) to build charging station infrastructure across the country, all global companies with technological capabilities came in a big way. In Plano, Texas, the most important charging station manufacturing cluster in the electric vehicle ecosystem is being built since Tesla settled in Texas.
SK Signet was the first among Korean companies to realize and enter this market. In April 2021, SK bought a 55% stake in EV Signet, founded by Daewoo Heavy Industries CEO Hwang Ho-cheol, from a private equity fund (PEF) for 293 billion won and boldly entered the field. The group, which used to run a gas station business distributing existing oil resources to vehicles through SK Networks and SK Innovation, is now divesting most of them and the electric car charging business. SK narrowed the gap with competitors in the existing industry through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and reached No. 1 in the world in the field of ultra-fast charging, although it is still in its infancy.
Last year SK made another decision. As the US government restricted durable loader steel as a precondition for subsidies to domestic companies, the production area expanded back into Texas. After investing approximately $15 million, SK Signet was able to establish a manufacturing base in Plano in only one year that is comparable to the Korean production base.
Competition with Taiwan Delta … LG and Toyota also weighed.
Kwok Kee-hong, plant manager for SK Signet Americas Production Corporation, explains the operation process. / photo = Reporter Park Joon Shaik
Delta, a global manufacturer of power supplies in Taiwan, has operations in Planusi. In addition, competition is expected to intensify as SK Signet completes its charger manufacturing base with an annual production capacity of 10,000 units per annum. In addition, South Korea’s LG Group is looking for a manufacturing base site in Plano. He predicted a fierce battle in the charging infrastructure market where the money line was visible. Some are hearing rumors that a group of automakers including Japan’s Toyota is preparing to enter the Plano Freight Group.
Faced with this situation, SK Signet decided to market the ultra-fast 200KW/h new 400KW product launched in July this year. There is no other place in the world where 400KW class products have been launched except for Siemens in Europe. In the US market, it was marketed by SK Signet and is a strategy to capture the high-end market. It was released in the US in July this year and will be released in Europe and Korea next year.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla is charging under the ‘Supercharger’ brand, but the maximum power is still 150 kW. When charged to this capacity, it takes a little over 30 minutes for a Tesla Model S or Y to fully charge above 80%. However, if you use a 400 KW charger made by SK Signet, you can fully charge the car in less than half the time if you can accommodate it.
Highway networks, post offices and Amazon got involved.
“We plan to increase the number of local employees in the US from the current 180 to more than 300 within three years,” said Jin Roh, director of human resources at SK Signet. They said. / photo = Reporter Park Joon Shaik
Tesla has more than 50 percent market share in the US with 150 kW charging stations. However, as the US government warned against Tesla’s oligopolistic business and called for fair competition, it recently decided to open up ‘superchargers’ to Ford EVs. In addition, the US government is expected to end the more than 100 trillion won in subsidies for charging station infrastructure as a precondition for ending the oligarchy in the charger market.
SK Signet currently cooperates with a charging station operator named Electrify America (EA). EA is cooperating with the US government by creating EA, a clean charging station company, to recoup the $2 billion Volkswagen Group losses due to Dieselgate. EA limited SK Signet’s acquisition ratio to 25% until four years ago, but recently increased the supply-to-ask ratio to 75% because the product is defect-free and competitive with other competitors. It has excellent stability and compatibility.
SK Signet is not limited to EA, but plans to expand its providers to existing large-scale customers such as high-speed highway operators, public agency vehicle networks such as the US Post Office, and Amazon. The new 400KW ‘V2’ product has received pre-orders in the form of pilots worth millions of dollars. It is still difficult for sedan-type EVs to accommodate chargers of 230 kW or more, but recently, automakers have been rapidly increasing battery capacity to meet consumer demand, and the V2 first Aiming to make an impact in the market since then. Additionally, higher capacity chargers are needed for commercial trucks, buses and drone taxis (UAM), which require higher capacity battery charging.
“We expect sales to reach 320 billion won this year and 1 trillion won by 2025,” said Shin Jeong-ho, CEO of SK Signet. “We intend to calculate more than $1 billion,” he said. Sales of 160 billion won last year are expected to grow more than sixfold in three years.
Tesla doubled the charging speed… Texas governor also praised
SK Signet held an opening ceremony for its production base in Plano, Texas, USA on the 5th (local time) and demonstrated the new V2 electric vehicle charger. / Image Courtesy = SK Group
On that day, Governor Greg Abbott, the de facto president of the largest state in the United States (excluding Alaska), sent a personal message of congratulations. Plano Mayor John Munches, who personally attended the event with Governor Abbott, praised the ‘V2”s speed, technology and durability while watching the demonstration. He offered many incentives to return to manufacturing, but was surprised to learn that he had built a world-class manufacturing base in his home country and brought ultra-fast products to market in less than a year.
According to Hyundai Motor Company’s ‘Ioniq 5’ with the V2, it is possible to get up to 80% full charge in 15 minutes of charging. The cost is also about $12 for a 60% fee, which can be provided at half the normal rate. This is essential technology on US highways where highways are heavily traveled and the road network is very long.
Notably, the V2 displayed 200k+ output per vehicle directly when charging the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 simultaneously. In addition, the V2’s power cabinet can generate up to 600kW per unit, making it possible to charge up to 4 units at the same time with 2 dispenser chargers. Experts point out that there is no such option for collection operators.
The Texas state government, through the City of Plano, has already provided SK Signet with $1 million in incentives and assistance with the recruitment, security and test licensing process. “We welcome the opening of this wonderful new production base,” said Adriana Cruz, director of Texas Economic Development.
charger rating
In the electric vehicle charger market, home chargers are generally classified as low speed, in the 7 to 11 kW class. If it is the next 20 ~ 40 kW class and divided into medium speed, then 50 ~ 100 kW class can be seen in fast. Tesla uses what’s called a 150 kW class Supercharger, but it takes more than 30 minutes to fully charge. In order not to make a huge difference to conventional fossil fuels on long distance travel, the buffer time after ‘a cup of coffee’ should be reduced to 10 minutes.
