By Ian Werther in News — 14 Mar 2026

Samsung SDI seeks European EV battery deals as Lee Jae-yong returns to Seoul

Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong returned to Seoul on the 13th, arriving at the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center. He had wrapped up a European business trip focused on expanding collaboration in Samsung SDI’s electric vehicle battery business and potential new orders with European automakers.

Lee’s arrival at 12:45 p.m. was followed by a brief exchange with reporters; when asked whether he met European clients during the trip, he answered “Yes” and then left the airport.

The trip, which included Samsung SDI President Choi Ju-seon accompanying him, centered on Germany and other European markets. The two discussed battery supply collaboration with major European automakers and the potential for expanded partnerships.

This broad panorama of the Carina Nebula, a region of massive star formation in the southern skies, was taken in infrared light using the HAWK-I camera on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Many previously hidden features, scattered across a spectacular celestial landscape of gas, dust and young stars, have emerged. Some of these features have been annotated in Commons. Trumpler 16 (annotated) is an open cluster that contains the luminous, massive blue variable Eta Carinae, one of the brightest stars in the galaxy, possibly as much as 120 times the mass of the Sun, and emitting the light of 4,000,000 Suns. Eta Carinae is nearing the end of its life, and is surrounded by a huge nebula, cast off by numerous eruptions of the star over the last several centuries; it is expected to explode into a supernova at any time. Trumpler 14 (annotated) contains the huge double star HD 93129 A/B. The young O3 class star HD 93129 A is one of the brightest stars in the galaxy that is still on the main sequence, and with a luminosity equivalent to 3,000,000 Suns, is very nearly as bright as Eta Carinae, but this is not obvious in the photo due to obscuring nebulosities. — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: CC BY 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Choi Ju-seon spoke to reporters after returning to Korea, saying they met several clients during the visit and would “work hard” on potential additional orders, while adopting a cautious stance about specific deals.

Samsung SDI currently supplies electric-vehicle batteries to BMW and Volkswagen and is pursuing supply arrangements with Mercedes-Benz and other European automakers, according to industry notes.

The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), with a main mirror 39 metres in diameter, will be the world’s biggest eye on the sky when it becomes operational early in the next decade. The E-ELT will tackle the biggest scientific challenges of our time, and aim for a number of notable firsts, including tracking down Earth-like planets around other stars in the “habitable zones” where life could exist — one of the Holy Grails of modern observational astronomy.
The telescope design itself is revolutionary and is based on a novel five-mirror scheme that results in exceptional image quality. The primary mirror consists of almost 800 segments, each 1.4 metres wide, but only 50 mm thick. The optical design calls for an immense secondary mirror 4.2 metres in diameter, bigger than the primary mirrors of any of ESO's telescopes at La Silla.
Adaptive mirrors are incorporated into the optics of the telescope to compensate for the fuzziness in the stellar images introduced by atmospheric turbulence. One of these mirrors is supported by more than 6000 actuators that can distort its shape a thousand times per second.
The telescope will have several science instruments. It will be possible to switch from one instrument to another within minutes. The telescope and dome will also be able to change positions on the sky and start a new observation in a very short time.

The very detailed design for the E-ELT shown here is preliminary. — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: CC BY 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Analysts and industry observers say that with Lee personally overseeing the batteries business, new European supply agreements seem likely as Samsung SDI continues to push for broader adoption of its cells across the continent.

Previously, in November of last year, Lee met Ola Källenius, chairman of Mercedes-Benz, during a visit to Korea to discuss collaboration in vehicle electronics and related areas.

Why this matters to U.S. readers: Samsung SDI’s deeper engagement with European automakers highlights the globalization of EV battery supply chains that also involve U.S. manufacturers and policymakers. A broader European footprint for a major Korean battery supplier could influence pricing, supply security, and diversification of sources for Western automakers, including those in the United States, amid ongoing shifts in the global EV market and related policy considerations.

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