EV Battery Opportunity: Hyundai, Kia Join Hands With Exide

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. have partnered with a unit of Exide Industries Ltd. for EV battery localisation in India.

The deal will allow the carmakers to equip their future electric cars in India with locally made batteries as per the memorandum of understanding signed at Hyundai Motor’s R&D centre in Namyang, South Korea, according to a statement on Monday.

The move is part of their EV expansion plans in the world’s third-largest automotive market.

During the previous financial year, Hyundai had sold 1,834 vehicles in India while KIA sold 430 units in the country, according to data available on the Vahan website.

"India is a key market for vehicle electrification due in part to the government’s carbon neutrality goals, which makes securing cost competitiveness through localised battery production crucial," said Heui Won Yang, president and head of Hyundai and Kia’s R&D division. “Through this global partnership with Exide Energy Solutions Ltd., we'll gain a competitive advantage by equipping Hyundai Motor and Kia’s future EV models in the Indian market with locally produced batteries."

Exide Energy Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Exide Industries Ltd. involved in the manufacturing of lithium-ion cells, modules and packs. 

The focus of this Hyundai-Kia-Exide partnership is to produce lithium-iron-phosphate cells, which, under optimal conditions, support more than 10,000 charging cycles, as compared to the 1,000–2,300 cycles of a regular lithium-ion battery.

Shares of Exide Industries extended gains for the third consecutive trading session and rose as much as 12.9% to hit a record high of Rs 362.6 apiece. That compares with 0.6% gain in the country's benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index.