Hyundai Motor said Monday it has selected Samsung SDI as one of the final candidates to supply batteries for its electric vehicles to be rolled out in 2023.

South Korea’s largest automaker is currently shopping for the third batch of batteries for its EVs to be assembled using its platform E-GMP.

Designed by Hyundai Motor, E-GMP is a platform dedicated to EVs that allows the carmaker to load batteries under the car’s floor instead of engine bay.

If selected, Samsung SDI, together with SK Innovation, will supply batteries worth 25 trillion won ($23.1 billion) to Hyundai Motor’s electric SUV Ioniq 7. The deal will become the first EV battery supply contract between the two companies.

Hyundai Motor and Samsung SDI declined to comment on the ratio of nickel inside the third batch of batteries.

The first batch of batteries, which will be loaded on Hyundai’s EVs based on E-GMP this year, will be supplied from SK Innovation. The second batch, which will power Hyundai’s EVs to be introduced next year, will be supplied exclusively by LG Energy Solution and China’s CATL. The size of the first and second batch is 10 trillion won and 16 trillion won, respectively.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)