(LEAD) Hyundai, SK On to build 6.5 tln-won EV battery plant in U.S.

▲ This file photo taken Oct. 24, 2022, shows Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp.'s headquarters in Yangjae, southern Seoul. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Hyundai-SK On

(LEAD) Hyundai, SK On to build 6.5 tln-won EV battery plant in U.S.

(ATTN: UPDATES with details in last 5 paras; ADDS photo)

SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday it will build a 6.5 trillion-won (US$4.9 billion) electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the United States with SK Group's battery unit SK On.

Under a 50:50 joint venture, the two South Korean companies plan to build the battery plant in Bartow County, Georgia, with a goal to start production in the second half of 2025, Hyundai Motor Group said in a statement.

The battery plant will produce batteries with 35 gigawatt hours (GWh) of capacity a year, and most of the batteries will be used to assemble about 300,000 EVs a year in Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp.'s U.S. plants, it said.

Hyundai Motor and Kia are key affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group, and they together form the world's third-biggest carmaker by sales after Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen Group.

The announcement came five months after Hyundai Motor Group signed a memorandum of understanding with SK On to source EV batteries in the U.S. from the battery maker.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden in August, gives up to US$7,500 in tax credits to buyers of EVs assembled only in North America, sparking concerns that Hyundai Motor and Kia could lose ground in the U.S. market, as they make EVs at domestic plants for export to the U.S.

It also requires EV batteries to be made with a certain proportion of minerals mined or processed in the U.S. or countries or regions that have free trade agreements with Washington.

In October, Hyundai Motor Group began the construction of a 300,000-unit-a-year EV and battery plant in Georgia, aiming to begin commercial production in the first half of 2025.

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