Ever wonder where all the promised electric cars and trucks are going to be built? Us, too. Turns out that a good number of electric cars and SUVs will be built in the great state of Georgia thanks to Hyundai Motor Group (HMG). Specifically, the now-under-construction Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America near Savannah, Georgia. Hyundai Motor Group is the parent company that builds and sells Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia vehicles in the U.S.
Economic Opportunity of EVs
While electric cars are fun to drive and pollute less (at the source), they also represent an economic opportunity for many. Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, said the partnership with HMG is a testament to the “unprecedented success” of Georgia’s policies and workforce and went on to say, “With a long-term commitment to improving lives and livelihoods, we look forward to continuing this partnership and seeing its impact on both this community and our state as a whole.” HMG’s goals are even loftier. The corporate mission statement is “Progress for Humanity.”
State-Of-The-Art Manufacturing
Manufacturing used to thrive in the West and Midwest. Michigan still produces a good number of cars and trucks every year. But the Southeast is the new hub for building automobiles – Honda and Toyota have built cars in the U.S. for decades. BMW has a factory and delivery center in South Carolina, Kia has a factory in Georgia, Mercedes Benz has one in Alabama, Nissan is in Mississippi and Tennessee, Toyota is in Kentucky and Texas, Volkswagen builds vehicles in Tennessee, and Volvo has a very large manufacturing facility near Charleston, South Carolina.
The Hyundai factory will dwarf many of those facilities. This mega factory of the future represents an investment of approximately $5.5 billion. Production is set to begin soon with an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. José Muñoz, president and chief executive officer, Hyundai Motor North America implied that the number could, eventually, move up to 500,000.
This is all part of HMG’s global plan to sell 3.23 million fully electric vehicles by 2030. Certainly, a good number of those will be purchased by Americans. Not only will this facility build electric vehicles, but it will also manufacture the batteries that power those vehicles. In fact, Metaplant America will help Hyundai establish a supply chain for electric vehicle batteries “…and other EV components in the U.S. market,” according to HMG.
The facility will also showcase state-of-the-art “smart manufacturing.” “The new plant will boast a highly connected, automated, and flexible manufacturing system, which organically connects all elements of the EV ecosystem to realize customer value. The Georgia facility will become an intelligent manufacturing plant. All processes of production– order collection, procurement, logistics and production — will be optimized utilizing AI and data,” according to Hyundai Motor Group.
American Jobs and Communities Benefit
Several Georgia State and HMG representatives mentioned the success of the Kia facility in West Point, Georgia, as playing a role in selecting the Savannah area for the new factory. Specifically, HMG Executive Chair Euisun Chung said, “Hyundai and the people of Georgia share many qualities: respect for our histories, ingenuity, creativity, and determination to make the world better for the next generation.”
The benefit to the local area is clearly jobs. More than 8,000 jobs will result over time. Charitable donations are a big part of that, too, with many of the dollars going to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations. So far, Hyundai and Genesis have donated $940,000 to local organizations.
Which actual vehicles will be built at the Savannah facility? We don’t know yet. A good guess might be the Hyundai Ioniq 7 (now just a concept). An electrified version of Kia’s Telluride is another, as well a host of coming Genesis vehicles. The Genesis brand has said it will launch only fully electric vehicles as soon as 2025.
HMG’s Metaplant America near Savannah, Georgia, should be producing cars as soon as 2025.
