Hyundai Motor Group is Investing $10 Billion in Advanced Mobility Technologies in the U.S. by 2025

author: Eric Walz   

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) is committing billions of dollars to become one of the world's biggest suppliers of electric vehicles. In March, Hyundai unveiled its strategic roadmap to help accelerate its electrification ambition as it pursues sustainable progress for the company. 

The plans include a previous investment commitment of $79.2 billion through 2030 to boost its annual EV sales to 1.87 million units and take a 7% global EV market share by decade end. Now the automaker announced a new plan to invest $10 billion in the U.S. by 2025 to accelerate what it calls "innovation and mobility electrification".

HMG said it will also make new investments for expanding and upgrading existing manufacturing facilities in the U.S. to build more electric vehicles.

Hyundai's massive investments in its U.S. operations by 2025 will help support the automaker's carbon neutrality goals with new technologies and contribute to manufacturing more electric vehicles in the state of Georgia.

Earlier this month, Hyundai Motor Group announced an investment of US$5.5 billion to establish its first dedicated EV and battery manufacturing facilities in the State of Georgia. The Georgia EV facility will build vehicles for both Hyundai and its brand Kia. 

Hyundai will soon build two new electric SUVs for the U.S. market, one under each brand. The Hyundai brand will offer the Ioniq 7 SUV while the EV9 will be sold by Kia. 

"As one of the world's most successful and advanced mobility leaders, we are incredibly proud to share our plan to open our first dedicated full EV and battery manufacturing facilities in the U.S.," said Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung on May 21. "The U.S. has always held an important place in the Group's global strategy, and we are excited to partner with the State of Georgia to achieve our shared goal of electrified mobility and sustainability in the U.S."  

The new facility, located on a dedicated 2,923-acre site in Bryan County, Georgia, will break ground in early 2023 and is expected to begin commercial production in the first half of 2025 with an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year. 

Hyundai also said the new facility will help the company lead the transition to electric vehicles in the U.S. The automaker aims to become one of the top three EV manufacturers in the U.S. by 2026.

"We have come a long way and become very successful in a short period of time, but we are also preparing for our future," said Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, after his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Seoul, South Korea on Monday. "The Group will strengthen our partnership with U.S. public and private entities to offer innovative products and mobility solutions to our valued customers in the U.S. while supporting global carbon neutrality efforts."

The new EV factory in Georgia  plant will implement many of HMG's advanced intelligent manufacturing technologies, boasting a highly connected, automated, and flexible manufacturing system. The plant will also be powered by renewable energy sources to power and use emission-reduction technologies to meet RE100 requirements.

HMG has allocated some of the investments to its future businesses, including the fields of robotics, advanced air mobility (AAM), autonomous driving, and artificial intelligence (AI). The investment will help the company offer more diverse mobility products and services in the future.

Hyundai says that robotics, which includes autonomous driving technologies, is an essential part of its transformation into a smart mobility solutions provider.  The automaker recently acquired robotics firm Boston Dynamics, an innovator in the field. Acquiring Boston Dynamics has already sharpened the automaker's focus on advancing robotics to enhance people's lives with a range of mobility solutions. 

Hyundai will help Boston Dynamics by expediting mass production of future products, enhancing its product lineup and strengthening its competitiveness in the emerging field.

Hyundai is developing its autonomous driving technology in the automotive industry through Motional, a joint venture established in 2020 in Boston with U.S. mobility technology firm Aptiv. Motional is currently testing its robotaxi service on U.S public roads with an aim to begin commercial service in 2023.

The robotaxis for the autonomous ride-hailing service are based on the new all-electric Hyundai IONIQ 5, which launched last year. The vehicle was outfitted with technology to convert it into a SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicle that can safely operate without a driver, according to Motional. 

HMG will support Motional to make its driverless technology safer and more reliable, as well as more accessible to customers in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. HMG will also cooperate with U.S. partners to help accelerate these efforts.

In March, Motional launched the initial version of a new open dataset called "nuPlan", which the company says is the world's largest public dataset for autonomous vehicle prediction and planning.

The new open-source planning dataset will help researchers outside of the company to better understand how a driverless vehicle can find its way through a dynamic environment, including driving in the city like a human driver. Motional said the nuPlan data set is the world's first benchmark for autonomous vehicle planning. 

For developers of autonomous vehicles, this type of data is used to train machine learning algorithms so self-driving vehicles can navigate safely. The data in nuPlan will be available to the public and can be used to teach an autonomous vehicle how to handle unique driving situations. 

HMG is also developing the technologies and infrastructure for advanced air mobility (AAM) using electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL). 

Last year, Hyundai launched Washington D.C.-based Supernal last year to develop eVTOL aircraft and supporting infrastructure for commercial air mobility. Supernal is working to integrate AAM into existing transit networks to deliver a seamless intermodal passenger experience. 

Hyundai and Supernal are targeting 2028 to launch a commercial air mobility service. The vision for the service is for passengers to use a single app  for all of their transportation needs, similar to the goal of ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc.

For example, a rider may take a car or rail from their home to an AAM "vertiport," for a quick trip in the skies across town, then using an electric scooter for the last mile.

In order to advance all future businesses and strengthen competitiveness in diverse areas within the Group, HMG plans to increase investment into AI technologies.

In addition to the future business, as one of the world's leading automakers, HMG will maintain consistent levels of investment in R&D in order to launch innovative vehicles from its Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands. 

Hyundai plans to introduce 17 new electric models by 2030. Of these new vehicles, 11 will be sold as Hyundai models six models from its luxury brand Genesis by 2030. The models include three sedans, six SUVs, one light commercial vehicle and one new type model.

In Sept 2021, Hyundai said its luxury Genesis brand will only offer electric vehicles starting in 2025. 

Hyundai is also developing new vehicle software architectures to provide a more satisfying ownership experience. The automaker plans to apply an over-the-air (OTA) update to new models that will be launched starting at the end of 2022. By 2025, Hyundai said that all of its electric models will support OTA software updates.

The massive investments also include building EV charging stations and strategic alliances with EV charging providers for its future EV customers. 

Eric Walz

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry here in Silicon Valley. He has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology.