- Joint development by a battery provider and an EV rental company, to become the first in the industry to launch a battery monitoring service in pursuit of the highest value, ‘Safe and Durable Battery’
 SKI’s own analysis technology combined with SK rent-a-car’s comprehensive vehicle management solution
- Real-time battery monitoring to grasp residual life as well as to detect abnormal signs in advance
 Fleet operators including rental companies to enjoy a higher level of battery management convenience
- Batteries managed by the solution more likely to be reused
 The service to contribute to the establishment of waste battery industry ecosystem and more full-fledged ESG management

SK rent-a-car (CEO: Hwang Il-moon) joins hands with SK innovation (CEO: Kim Jun) with the common purpose of unleashing the best value for EV battery, which is ‘safe and durable’ solutions. The company said on the 30th that they have established a system analyzing in real time the usage data of batteries installed on its vehicles to this end.

The collaboration between EV makers and battery manufacturers is not a new concept. But this coalition between the battery company and car rental company became the first one in order for ‘Safe and Durable Battery’.

The two companies combined the battery diagnosis technology that SK innovation has developed as an EV battery manufacturer and SK rent-a-car’s comprehensive vehicle management system, ‘Smartlink’ to create a solution. And they designed this solution to analyze battery usage data as well as to detect battery life and abnormal signs such as overheating. Both plan to install this solution on SK rent-a-car’s EV rentals on a trial basis.

Accordingly, it is possible to monitor the entire life cycles of the batteries mounted on EVs due to the solution since it enables the 24-hour analysis of what changes batteries go through in every situation when the vehicles drive, stop, or are charged. The results earned from the solution will be used to upgrade its automatic management system to ensure that batteries are always at its best.

SK innovation plans to provide this management system for commercial vehicle operators such as car rental companies, delivery companies, or taxi or bus operators. The system is expected to improve fleet management efficiency by giving the operators access to information such as the remaining useful lifetime of batteries. Furthermore, it allows them to keep track of the conditions of vehicles.

SK rent-a-car declared its participation in K-EV100, the Korean campaign to shift to zero emission cars, in March this year, which is the manifestation of its goal of converting its all vehicles into eco-friendly ones by 2030. And the company expects the solution to contribute to the achievement of the goal.

The company plans to combine the solution with its own developed comprehensive management system, ‘Smartlink’, in order to maintain the optimal conditions of EVs and improve management efficiency through accurate measurement of their residual values when it sells the vehicles.

The battery monitoring trial service enables SK innovation to constantly develop its data analysis technology as well as to set the stage for the application. Based on this, SK innovation secures the capabilities to expand its business into BaaS (Battery as a Service)

The two companies have worked together since the first half of 2020, which resulted in the launch of this service. But this is not the end. The service will be expanded into AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based one designed to develop its data analysis algorithm by itself.

The head of SK rent-a-car’s BM Innovation Division, Kim Hyeon-soo, said, “SK rent-a-car will expand ‘Smartlink’, the distinguished management platform we have developed for the past 10 years, into EVs to ensure outstanding vehicle management system. The expansion will provide our customers a greater benefit by allowing them to drive their EVs for a long time in a more efficient way.” And he added, “Based on the battery monitoring system, we continue to collaborate with SK innovation to develop diverse services down the road.”

Kim Yu-seok, head of Battery Marketing at SK innovation said, “we believe that this monitoring service will help our customers use quality batteries for a longer time in a safer manner. And it will also play a part in building a mature BaaS ecosystem by enabling the eco-friendly reuse of batteries even after the end of battery life.

[Photo 1] On the 30th, SK rent-a-car and SK innovation made an announcement of the launch of EV battery monitoring trial service in collaboration. This service is designed to monitor batteries in real time and to analyze the data coming from it, which gives access to information such as residual life. The two companies plan to develop the service into the solution enabling the detection of abnormal signs in advance. The ultimate goal of the service is to bring a high level of battery management convenience to many vehicle operators. The photo is the employees of SK innovation looking at the data eared through the battery monitoring service at SK Seorin Building, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

[Photo 2] SK rent-a-car and SK Innovation made an announcement of the launch of EV battery monitoring trial service in collaboration. This service is designed to monitor batteries in real time and to analyze the data coming from it, which gives access to information such as residual life. The two companies plan to develop the service into the solution enabling the detection of abnormal signs in advance. The ultimate goal of the service is to bring a high level of battery management convenience to many vehicle operators. The photo is the employees of SK innovation looking at the data eared through the battery monitoring service at SK Seorin Building, Jongno-gu, Seoul.