Hyundai's EV factory in Georgia will open ahead of target, Jose Munoz says

Hyundai's massive EV and battery complex in Georgia will be online as soon as October 2024, three months ahead of target.

"We're pulling ahead because everybody knows how important it is because so far we don't qualify for federal tax credits," Hyundai Motor America CEO Jose Munoz told Automotive News.

Construction of the Metaplant is a $7.6 billion investment for Hyundai Motor Group, parent to Hyundai, Genesis and Kia. The EV plant will assemble six models across the three brands, and an adjacent factory — the result of a joint venture with LG Energy Solution — will build batteries to support the EVs.

Munoz isn't saying which model will be the first to come from the plant, but he said it will eventually produce the three-row Ioniq 7, which is expected in 2025.

Hyundai's acceleration of its EV plans in the U.S. follows recent decisions by General Motors and Ford to slow investments in domestic EV and battery factories. Munoz said starting production earlier will allow Hyundai to take advantage of the $7,500 federal tax incentive for consumers who buy EVs assembled in North America with qualifying battery components and critical minerals.

In January, new restrictions on EV eligibility narrowed, disqualifying those with battery components made or assembled by a "foreign entity of concern," including companies or subsidiaries of U.S. companies in China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

"Of course, we want our components and critical minerals not coming from China, so our supply chain procurement people are working really hard to ensure full compliance," Munoz said in an interview Feb. 3.

Munoz said the EVs made in Georgia will qualify when the plant starts production this year.

"There are a lot of moving pieces, but I am confident very shortly after we start, we will be compliant," he said.

The LG Energy Solution battery portion of the plants will lag the start of the vehicle assembly, with production expected to start in January, he explained, but Hyundai will source batteries from other plants in the U.S. to bridge the gap.

Hyundai has another battery joint venture with South Korean supplier SK On Co. to build a $5 billion battery plant in Bartow County, Ga., with an annual production capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours. It's expected to open the second half of 2025 and supply Hyundai's Montgomery, Ala., factory and Kia's plant in West Point, Ga.

The Metaplant will have the capacity to build 300,000 EVs per year with the flexibility to dial up to 500,000 depending on demand. The battery plant will have 30 gigawatt-hours of annual capacity, enough to support the assembly plant.

While the group forges ahead, analysts suspect the surge in EV sales that lifted the market share to 8 percent from just over 1 percent in three years, will slow this year as consumers grapple with affordability and a charging infrastructure that remains unreliable in many pockets of the country.

Cox Automotive forecasts that EVs will top 10 percent of total new-vehicle sales this year.

Munoz said the pace of growth is not as high as the government's expectations to have 50 percent of new-vehicle sales be electric by 2030.

But he said Hyundai continues to see strong EV sales. "Ioniq 5 grew almost 50 percent last year, and Ioniq 6 is getting a good pace. Kona EV also is doing really well," Munoz said.

Munoz indicated selling electric passenger cars is not the same as selling an electric pickup, such as Ford's F-150 Lightning.

In December, Ford Motor Co. said it was cutting planned production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup roughly in half next year. Sales were up in 2023, but they slipped in January from a year earlier.

The starting price of the Ford F-150 Lightning is about $52,000 including shipping. The highest Platinum trim starts at $93,890.

By comparison, the Kona EV subcompact crossover costs between $32,675 and $41,045. The Ioniq 5 compact crossover starts at $41,800 and tops out at $53,500, and the Ioniq 6 sedan costs between $42,450 and $50,150. All Hyundai prices include shipping.

"There are very few Hyundai dealers that are still not selling the Ioniq EV and we are telling them to please hurry up because we are going to continue to bet on electric vehicles," Munoz said.

Munoz said to ease dealers' minds about the lack of infrastructure, Hyundai will add compatibility with Tesla's North America Charging Standard to its EVs by the fourth quarter, providing owners with access to the more mature charging network.

Older EVs that have the Combined Charging System port, will get Tesla adapters so they can access that network, Munoz said.

"We still are deciding [what provider] will make the adapters, and it's very likely we will be the one to produce them because it's very important to provide a good experience for the customer."