LG Chem to Supply Batteries for LeEco/Faraday EVs?

South Korea’s LG Chem has signed a 2.7 trillion-won ($2.4 billion) deal to supply lithium-ion batteries for the LeSee electric vehicle being developed by Chinese consumer electronics giant LeEco and affiliate Faraday Future Inc., reports the Korea Herald.

A contract of this size would support about 200,000 vehicles, estimates Electrek, an online technology newsletter. The companies declined to comment on the reports.

LeEco is building a plant in Hangzhou, China, to make the LeSee sedan, which is based on the flexible electric vehicle architecture that Faraday is developing. Previous reports have said LG Chem is investing as much as 200 million won ($180,000) in LeEco’s plant.

Gardena, Calif.-based Faraday, which is backed by LeEco founder Jia Yueting, aims to produce its own EVs at a planned facility in Nevada. Porter Harris, who had headed Faraday’s battery design efforts, left the secretive startup company earlier this year to join Lotus Research and Development.

A deal with LeEco/Faraday indicates LG Chem has resolved issues with its battery technology related to the Chinese market, Korea Herald notes. The Korean newspaper says the supplier failed to meet China’s standards on EV batteries for buses during tests earlier this year.