LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group plan to invest an additional $2 billion to expand their joint battery cell manufacturing plant in Georgia.
The investment adds to the $4.3 billion announced for the project in May by the two companies and will add 400 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp, R, said in an announcement.
The factory will be adjacent to Hyundai’s upcoming $5.5 billion manufacturing campus in Ellabell, Georgia. Production is slated to begin at the end of 2025, with enough capacity to produce 300,000 EVs annually.
“In collaboration with our trusted partner Hyundai Motor Group, this investment underscores our dedication to driving America’s EV transition while bolstering the local economy through the creation of quality jobs,” Dong-Myung Kim, president and head of the advanced automotive battery division of LG Energy Solution, said in a statement.
The two South Korea-based companies will each take a 50% stake in the venture and facility, where Hyundai will assemble battery packs using cells from the plant. The packs will be sent to the automaker’s U.S. manufacturing sites to produce Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis EV models.
Hyundai and LG Energy Solution have been working together in the EV battery sector since 2009, when the former introduced its Elantra Hybrid EV. LG Energy Solution provided batteries for the Elantra, along with Hyundai’s Kona Electric and IONIQ 6 EVs.
This is also not the companies’ first joint venture. The two broke ground on a battery cell manufacturing plant in Karawang, Indonesia, in September 2021. The $1.1 billion plant is set to start production in the first half of 2024.
Hyundai’s upcoming EV campus has also drawn a host of suppliers to the area. On Aug. 29, Daesol Ausys Georgia unveiled plans to invest $72 million in a manufacturing facility in West Point. The auto part maker will produce luggage boards and covers and is also a key supplier for Kia and General Motors.
