South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution (LGES) will build a $4.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant in the United States. Construction of the plant will start in the second half of this year and battery production is expected to begin in late 2025 at the earliest, the companies said in a statement.
It’s all about taxes
In order for U.S. buyers to receive tax credits for the purchase of an electric vehicle, manufacturers must meet strict requirements on the origin of components and raw materials for batteries. Vehicles from Hyundai Motor and sister carmaker Kia are not currently eligible for this credit. The new plant is intended to help ensure that cars get this relief.
The new plant will be located in the state of Georgia and will be part of Hyundai’s new electric vehicle assembly plant. It will create around 3,000 jobs. Annual production capacity is expected to be 30 gigawatt hours (GWh). This is enough for about 300,000 electric vehicles, which is the expected initial production capacity of the adjacent assembly plant. Later, it plans to expand production to 500,000 cars.
Big names
Hyundai Motor Group is the world’s third-largest automaker by number of vehicles sold. Each company will own a half stake in the new plant.
LGES also supplies other automakers, including Tesla and General Motors. The plant with Hyundai will be the seventh battery plant it has in operation or under construction in the US.
Hyundai also has an EV battery joint venture in the US with SK On, the battery division of SK Innovation. That plant is also due to start production in 2025 and will employ 3,500 people, AP and Reuters reported.
source: ČTK
