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SK Group presents its idea of the future at updated booth at CES 2023

Published: 05 Jan. 2023, 12:33 Updated: 05 Jan. 2023, 14:57

Models pose with SK On's Super Fast EV battery at the company's booth for the CES 2023 trade show in Las Vegas. [SK ON]

LAS VEGAS — Commute by either a flying taxi or an electric vehicle (EV), and charge the car in less than 20 minutes. Enjoy some dairy-free milk but don’t throw away the plastic bottle, it can be recycled into raw materials for petrochemicals.

Sounds pretty unrealistic, but this is actually what SK Group hopes the future will look. Eight SK companies are jointly introducing some 40 technologies and products at a 1,223-square-meter shared booth at CES 2023, which runs Jan. 5 to 8, to persuade visitors that this future can become a reality.

The teal-colored SK logo in front of the booth noticeably stood out even from a distance Wednesday, when a press tour took place. A question was raised: Doesn't SK usually uses red and orange for its logo?

SK is using a teal-colored logo at CES 2023 to express its determination to reduce carbon emissions. [SK INC.]

The company explained it dropped its usual colors to "express its determination to reduce carbon emissions and make a greener earth."

It was a day before the official opening of the trade show, but there was an area where people were particularly crowded.

They were in line to take a look at SK On’s Super Fast battery, which has 83 percent nickel content and can run more than 400 kilometers (248.5 miles) per charge. The high-performance and high-nickel batteries allow the car to be charged to 80 percent in only 18 minutes, the fastest in the market so far. Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 and Kia's EV6 have SK On batteries.

A pure white helicopter-like urban air mobility (UAM) vehicle was parked in the corner of the booth, which SK Telecom has been developing with the aim of marketing the flying taxi by 2025.

Sitting in the flying taxi and wearing an Oculus virtual reality (VR) headset, it simulated a flight from Busan station, departing through the roof of a building. Users can check their text messages or alarms while flying.

Models pose with SK Telecom's flying taxi at CES 2023 in Las Vegas. [SK TELECOM]

“I visited the center just to take a quick look, and this booth caught my eye,” said Andrew Peterson, a visitor from Florida who identified himself as an owner of a hydrogen-related start-up.

“There are lots of things to see, and it seems like everything is showing the same message; environment.”

A big screen next to the taxi displayed a character riding a Ford car that is equipped with SK On’s NCM9 — nickel, cobalt and manganese — battery, the world's first battery to hit the 90-percent nickel content level that allows for higher energy density and improved storage capacity.

A trial solid-state battery product was also on display, which is currently under development by Louisville, Colorado-based Solid Power. SK Innovation in Oct. 2021 invested $30 million into the battery company.

Solid-state batteries are touted as "dream batteries" due to their high energy density and safety.

California-based EverCharge's COVE EV charger [SK ENERGY]

SK signet unveiled its ultra-fast EV charger for the first time at the trade show, which takes only 18 minutes to be charged to 80 percent.

“Some 20-minutes of charging will allow drivers to go from New York to Washington without stopping,” said Lim Ha-neul who led Wednesday’s tour.

SK handed out a free meal coupon that reporters could use at a food truck in front of the exhibition. Three items were available: Plant-based ice cream, plant-positive milk and dairy-free cream cheese with a bagel.

It was the coupon itself that was the most interesting part of the experience as it was made entirely of granite.

SK's booth at CES 2023 displays media art images rendering the future of the earth if human beings do not actively fight against the climate crisis. [SK INC.]

SK companies’ determination to create greener earth comes as SK Chairman Chey Tae-won in December 2021 announced a goal to reduce the company's carbon emissions by 200 million tons by 2030 — an aggressive target, equivalent to 1 percent of the world's reduction goal.

The booth is divided into two zones. In the first zone, which the company has called Futuremarks, SK will show media art images rendering the future of the earth if human beings do not actively fight against the climate crisis.

CES returns at full scale this year with more than 3,000 companies participating in the four-day event in Las Vegas. Of them, some 600 were Korean companies, making Korea the second most-represented country, following only the United States.

BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]