November 29, 2024

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Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun speaks during the ground-breaking ceremony of Hyundai's Savannah EV plant on Oct. 25. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s leading carmaker Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group’s battery-making arm SK On are set to invest $4 billion to build a joint battery production plant in Georgia, US state officials said Friday. Construction is expected to be completed in 2025.

The two companies had signed a business agreement late November on building a joint facility in Bartow County, about 100 kilometers northwest of Atlanta. The batteries produced at the plant will power Hyundai Group’s electric vehicles made at its Georgia EV plant currently under construction.

Hyundai had broken ground in October for its $5.54 billion EV plant in Savannah, Georgia.

The newly built battery plant is near other major Hyundai and SK On facilities as well. Hyundai Motor Group operates a Kia manufacturing facility in Westpoint, Georgia, while it also has a Hyundai car manufacturing plant just across state borders in Alabama.

SK On also has a 21.5 gigawatt-hour plant in Georgia.

The investment “will create more than 3,500 new jobs through approximately $4-5 billion of investment,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson said the investment will “strengthen Georgia’s electric vehicle ecosystem.”

By Lee Seung-ku (seungku99@heraldcorp.com)