ATLANTA — A top Hyundai executive said Tuesday that the company is rushing to start electric vehicle and battery production as soon as possible at a $7.6 billion, spurred by federal electric vehicle incentives that reward domestic production.
Hyundai and other companies selling imported vehicles have still been helped by the law because dealers can apply the credit to, no matter where it’s made, to reduce a customer’s monthly payment. Munoz on Tuesday presented figures showing the Hyundai group sold or leased the second biggest number of electric vehicles in the U.S. in the first six months of 2023, behind only Tesla.
The South Korean automaker and battery partner LG Energy Solution recently increased their investment in battery production at the complex. They also pledged to hire another 400 workers, increasing total employment to 8,500. Munoz said the investment will allow the company to make more batteries in Ellabell than originally planned, raising capacity enough to supply batteries for all 300,000 vehicles that Hyundai plans to assemble there.