Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution on Thursday announced that they are to build a US$4.3 billion electric battery plant as part of Hyundai’s new electric vehicle (EV) assembly plant in southeast Georgia.
The companies would split the investment, starting production as soon as late 2025.
Hyundai Motor Co chief executive officer Chang Jae-hoon said in a statement that the battery plant would “create a strong foundation to lead the global EV transition,” adding that the company wants to accelerate efforts to produce electrified Hyundai and Kia vehicles in North America.
Photo: Reuters
“Hyundai Motor Group is focusing on its electrification efforts to secure a leadership position in the global auto industry,” Chang said.
The South Korean automaker last year said that it would invest US$5.5 billion to assemble EVs and batteries in Ellabell, Georgia.
The site is to have 8,100 employees.
Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, said that the 3,000-job battery plant would be part of the 8,100 overall jobs and the US$4.3 billion investment would be part of the previously announced US$5.5 billion total.
The plant is to supply batteries for 300,000 EVs per year, which is the initial projected production of the adjoining vehicle assembly plant.
Hyundai has said that the plant could later expand to build 500,000 vehicles annually.
“This is exactly what we envisioned when Georgia landed the Hyundai Metaplant in May of last year and this project is the latest milestone in Georgia’s path to becoming the EV capital of the nation,” Kemp said in a statement.
In addition to the assembly and battery plants, auto parts suppliers have pledged to invest more than US$2 billion and hire 4,800 people in the region around the Hyundai site.
LG said this would be its seventh battery plant in operation or under construction in the US.
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