SM Bexel Collaborates with US-Based Global Automotive Company on Next-Generation LMR Battery Development

Securing Technology for the Design, Production, and Evaluation of Cylindrical Secondary Batteries with LMR Materials
Establishing an End-to-End Development Process

SM Group's manufacturing affiliate, SM Bexel, announced on the 11th that it is undertaking a project in collaboration with a global automotive company based in the United States. The project aims to secure the technology for design, production, and evaluation of cylindrical secondary batteries incorporating next-generation LMR (Lithium Manganese Rich) cathode materials, and to establish a systematic evaluation framework to verify the performance of these new materials.

The core objective of this project is to validate the performance and application potential of LMR, which has attracted significant attention as a next-generation high-energy-density battery material, by applying it to actual batteries. SM Bexel utilizes its own quasi-mass production cylindrical cell line to carry out the entire process from electrode design to cell manufacturing, formation tailored to material properties, as well as initial performance and reliability assessment, all at the actual cell level.

Within the project, the global automotive company based in the United States is responsible for designing cylindrical batteries considering LMR characteristics, optimizing formation process conditions, and analyzing changes in battery performance resulting from material changes. SM Bexel, on the other hand, handles reviewing anode and cathode electrode design conditions, electrode manufacturing, application and production via quasi-mass production assembly lines, initial charge/discharge and electrochemical performance evaluation, and accumulating data and establishing evaluation standards for new materials.

Based on this collaboration, the two companies have established a cooperative system that covers 'material development → cell design → cell manufacturing → performance evaluation → result analysis → design improvement.' This process enables them to go beyond merely assessing material properties and allows for a comprehensive verification of key cell-level metrics such as capacity, output, lifespan, and safety.

Recently, in the electric vehicle industry, the development of next-generation cathode materials capable of achieving both high energy density and stable lifespan characteristics has accelerated, in order to improve driving range and enhance battery system energy efficiency. LMR is considered a next-generation material that can achieve higher energy density compared to conventional high-nickel cathode materials, depending on its composition and design. As such, research and development efforts for real battery application are ongoing among global automakers and battery manufacturers.

Through this project, SM Bexel further strengthened its end-to-end development capabilities, encompassing electrode design according to LMR specifications, manufacturing process setting, battery production, and performance evaluation. In particular, by continuously accumulating performance data and evaluation criteria for each material, the company expects to shorten evaluation periods and reduce trial and error in the course of developing new materials in the future.

The evaluation technology secured this time is not limited only to LMR. It also can be applied to the demonstration of practical battery applicability for a wide range of cathode materials—including high-nickel cathodes, LFP, LMFP—as well as silicon-based anodes, electrolytes, and additives. In the future, SM Bexel plans to expand the applicability of this platform to a broader variety of cylindrical cell sizes and specifications in response to customer demands.

In the medium to long term, the company expects to establish a battery material database based on the accumulated material property and cell evaluation data, and to further advance this into a data-driven battery development platform by integrating AI-based material and cell performance prediction technologies.

Choi Se-hwan, Head of the Battery Division at SM Bexel, stated, "This project is meaningful in that it further advanced SM Bexel’s battery material, electrode, and cell design and manufacturing technology in direct response to the actual development requirements of global automotive manufacturers. Moving forward, we plan to strengthen our capabilities for applying and verifying the performance of a wide range of next-generation battery materials in actual cells, and to broaden our technical cooperation with global automotive, battery, and material companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.