GM, Hyundai Tap South Korean EV Battery Makers to Build U.S. Plants

The factories will provide power packs for electric vehicles made in North America, as manufacturers target incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act

General Motors Co. and Hyundai Motor Group each announced new investments to produce electric-car battery cells in the U.S. in joint ventures with different South Korean battery makers.

General Motors and Samsung SDI Co. announced Tuesday that they are planning to invest more than $3 billion in a battery-cell factory that would begin operating in 2026. The location of the plant wasn’t disclosed but the cells will support GM’s EV capacity in North America, Chief Executive Mary Barra said.

Separately, Hyundai Motor Group and South Korean battery maker SK On Co. also said on Tuesday that they have agreed to invest $5 billion to build a plant in Georgia to produce electric-vehicle battery cells, as car makers bump up spending in the U.S. to benefit from incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The companies are the latest auto and battery makers to announce plans to expand production in North America, as they try to meet local-content rules and qualify for incentives under last year’s legislation.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol traveled to the U.S. this week and is set to meet with President Biden. The two are expected to discuss issues ranging from nuclear threats in North Korea to business ties.

Hyundai and SK On will set up an EV battery-cell factory in Bartow County, Georgia, in a 50-50 joint venture, Hyundai said Tuesday. The facility will be close to Hyundai and SK On’s EV manufacturing complex in the same state, a $5.5 billion investment announced in May last year.

The EV plant, located in Bryan County, Georgia, is set to begin production in the first half of 2025 and make around 300,000 cars a year, Hyundai said at the time. The latest battery-cell facility is expected to start manufacturing later the same year and will be able to support output of the same number of EVs, according to Tuesday’s statement.

LG Energy Solution Ltd. last month said it would build a $5.6 billion complex in Arizona to make cylindrical batteries for EVs and lithium-iron phosphate batteries for energy-storage systems. Tesla Inc. last month announced that its next EV factory will open in Mexico. EV output from the Mexican factory will be eligible for EV tax credits granted under the legislation.

In September 2021, Ford Motor Co. said it was collaborating with South Korean battery maker SK Innovation Co. to construct three battery factories in Kentucky and in Tennessee, as well as a factory that produces its F-series electric pickup trucks by 2025.