Hyundai Motor said it would break ground this month on a $5.5 billion electric vehicle and battery plant in the United States, according to Autoblog.
The South Korean company plans to start commercial production in the first half of 2025 with 300,000 units of annual capacity and creating 8,100 jobs.
“The Oct. 25 groundbreaking for the Hyundai Group’ metaplant’ in Savannah, Georgia is a part of the Hyundai Group’s commitment of $10 billion by 2025 to foster future mobility in the US, including the production of EVs,” the company said.
The groundbreaking comes amid the anger from Korea and the European Union over the United States EV tax policy.
The Inflation Reduction Act sighed by President Biden in August requires electric vehicles to be built in North America to qualify for US tax credits. However, it excluded Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Corp from EV subsidiaries as the companies do not make vehicles there, along with major European automakers.
In addition, the law made around 70% of electric vehicles immediately ineligible for the $7,500 tax credits per vehicle.
Biden has also expressed willingness to continue talks with S.Korea over recent US legislation that denies subsidies to most foreign makers of EVs, South Korea said earlier this month.
Furthermore, Biden repeatedly praised investments by major foreign automakers to build electric vehicles and battery plants in the United States. It includes an announcement by Honda Motor and LG Energy to locate a $4.4 billion battery plant in Ohio.
Biden gave the assurance in a letter to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who asked the US president last month to help ease Seoul’s concerns that the new US rules would hurt South Korea’s automakers, Reuters reported.
As a result of the August Law, only around 20 EVs qualify for subsidies under the new rules. Among them are models from Ford Motor Co and BMW.
