Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution revealed that they plan to build a $4.3 billion electric-vehicle battery factory, strengthening their tie-up overseas to meet the growing demand for EVs.
Executives from both sides signed an agreement in LG Energy’s headquarters in Seoul on Friday to construct a 50-50 EV battery cell joint venture in Savannah, Georgia.
LG and Hyundai will split the investment of over $4.3 billion, and Hyundai will build the new EV factory.
Three Hyundai affiliates — Hyundai Motor, Kia and Hyundai Mobis — have jointly invested to secure a combined 50% stake in the JV, which aims to start construction this year to kick off battery production at the end of 2025.
"Two strong leaders in the auto and battery industries have joined hands, and together we are ready to drive the EV transition in America," LG Energy CEO Youngsoo Kwon said in a statement.
The JV will have an annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours, enough to produce 300,000 EVs, the South Korean conglomerates said in a statement.
The new factory will come up in Bryan County, Savannah, Georgia adjacent to Hyundai Motor’s Metaplant America, currently under construction.
According to the South Korean auto giant, Hyundai Mobis will assemble battery packs using cells from the plant, then supply them to the group's US manufacturing facilities for production of Hyundai, Kia and Genesis EV models.
The new facility will help create a stable supply of batteries in the region and allow the Hyundai Motor Group to respond fast to the soaring EV demand in the US market, noted the South Korean car giant.
With the JV, LG now has seven battery plants currently operating or being constructed in the US, where the company is concentrating most of its resources to expand its production capacity.
Interestingly, the US project would mark the second battery JV between Hyundai Motor and LG Energy, which have been building a separate JV in Indonesia.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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