Hyundai Motor Group and General Motors on Tuesday separately announced plans to build electric vehicle battery factories in the United States in partnership with South Korean battery makers.
Hyundai will set up a $5 billion in battery cell production joint venture in the United States with SK On, the company that is also working with Ford to set up battery factories. GM will partner with Samsung SDI to jointly invest $3 billion in an electric vehicle battery plant.
The partnerships come as competition for electric vehicle batteries intensifies in the United States, with foreign and domestic automakers rushing to build nationwide battery supply chains to qualify for credit. Biden administration’s electric vehicle tax bill. New battery sourcing rules took effect in April that limit the total tax credit of $7,500 to vehicles whose battery materials are purchased and processed in the United States or by trade agreement partners.
The announcements also come as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol travels to Washington to meet President Joe Biden. South Korean automakers have pushed back against new administration rules barring vehicles built outside the United States from receiving the credit.
Hyundai’s partnership with SK On follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in November 2022. The two companies will hold a 50% stake in the $5 billion investment, according to Hyundai.
The Hyundai-SK joint venture will establish a battery cell plant in Bartow County, Georgia, near Hyundai’s US production facilities in Alabama and Georgia. Hyundai says the plant will start manufacturing battery cells in the second half of 2025 with an annual production capacity of 35 GWh, which is expected to support the production of 300,000 electric vehicles.
Hyundai Mobis, the automaker’s parts and services arm, will assemble batteries with cells from the factory and supply them to the automaker for use in upcoming Hyundai, Kia and Genesis EV models. SK We have previously worked with Hyundai to build batteries for models such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60.
The GM-Samsung plant is expected to start production in 2026 and will have more than 30 GWh of capacity. This should bring the total capacity of GM’s US battery cells to around 160 GWh. The automaker is building four more battery factories in the United States. It is not yet known where this new factory will be built.
GM said production lines at its new plant would build “prismatic and cylindrical nickel-rich cells.” Prismatic and cylindrical cells are two of the three types of EV battery cells. GM’s Ultium battery platform currently uses the third style – the pouch – for most of its vehicles.
