Another Korean EV supplier buys land near EV battery plant
May 24—EDITOR'S NOTE — This is a corrected and updated version of an article that ran in Wednesday's Tribune.
Another South Korean electric vehicle supplier has bought land near the StarPlus Energy EV battery plant.
Sangsin Indiana Inc. has bought 11 acres of land just south of where the StarPlus Energy EV battery plant will be located, according to county property records.
The registered agent for Sangsin Indiana Inc. is Min Chul Kim, who, according to Bloomberg, is the executive director of Sangsin Energy Display Precision.
Sangsin Energy Display Precision, according to the company's website develops and manufactures components for secondary batteries, commonly referred to as rechargeable batteries.
Sangsin's land purchase adds to the growing number of Korean EV suppliers that plan on building facilities in Kokomo to complement the $2.5 billion StarPlus Energy battery plant, a joint venture between Samsung SDI and Stellantis.
Soulbrain MI, headquartered in Michigan and a subsidiary of South Korea-based Soulbrain Holdings, also purchased land in the area and plans on building a 30,000 square foot electrolyte manufacturing facility. The investment is expected to break ground this year and create 75 jobs by the end of 2025.
In April, Jaewon Industries formally announced its intention to construct two facilities in two phases just south of the EV battery plant.
In the company's first phase, it will construct a 650,000 square foot facility, and in its planned second phase, it will construct a second, smaller 150,000 square foot facility just east of the larger facility.
According to the company, it will disperse conductive slurry and recycle n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) at its facilities. NMP is used as a solvent in the electrode coating of battery manufacturing.
The two facilities will serve battery manufacturers across the U.S. and in Indiana, including the StarPlus Energy EV battery plant.
Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.