Hyundai and LG to build battery plant in Georgia

2023-05-26 07:08:02

ATLANTA (AP) — Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution announced the upcoming construction of a $4.3 billion electric battery plant that will be part of the South Korean firm’s new electric vehicle assembly plant in southeast Georgia.

The companies said on Thursday that they will share the investment and production will start at the end of 2025 at the earliest.

Hyundai Motor Co. CEO Jaehoon Chang said in a statement that the battery plant will “create a strong foundation to lead the global transition to electric vehicles” and said the company wants to accelerate efforts to produce Hyundai electric vehicles. and Kia in North America.

“Hyundai Motor Group is concentrating on its electrification efforts to achieve a leading position in the global auto industry,” Chang said.

The South Korean manufacturer said in 2022 that it would invest $5.5 billion to assemble electric vehicles and manufacture batteries in Ellabell, south of the town of Savannah. The complex will have 8,100 employees and start producing vehicles in 2025, according to plans.

Garrison Douglas, a spokesman for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, said the battery plant will have 3,000 of the total 8,100 jobs and that the $4.3 billion investment will be part of a previously announced $5.5 billion amount.

The Hyundai/LG plant will have the capacity to supply batteries to 300,000 electric vehicles per year, which is the projected initial production for the adjoining vehicle assembly plant.

Hyundai has said the Georgia plant may later be expanded to produce 500,000 vehicles a year.

“It’s exactly what we envisioned when Georgia landed the Hyundai Metaplant in May of last year, and this project is the latest milestone on Georgia’s path to becoming the EV capital of the country,” Kemp said in a statement.

In addition to battery and assembly plants, auto parts suppliers have committed to investing more than $2 billion and hiring 4,800 people in the region around the Hyundai complex.

The announcements are part of the rush to obtain land that will be used for electric vehicle and battery plants in the United States.

Under the US Inflation Reduction Act, electric vehicles must be assembled in North America, and a certain percentage of battery components and minerals must come from the region or from a free trade partner with the United States. to qualify for a full $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit.

Currently, neither Hyundai nor Kia vehicles are eligible for the tax credit.

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