SK and Hyundai plan Georgia electric vehicle battery plant, 3,500 jobs

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South Korean conglomerates SK Innovation and Hyundai Motor Group plan a sprawling electric vehicle battery plant in Bartow County, northwest of Atlanta, a project that is expected to create more than 3,500 jobs and rank as the third-largest corporate investment in state history, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office announced Thursday.

The joint venture between SK subsidiary SK On and Hyundai adds luster to Georgia’s stature as an emerging EV and battery manufacturing hub, which shows no signs of slowing down as automakers bet their futures on electrification. And the project is in addition to multibillion-dollar investments SK and Hyundai have already announced in Georgia.

SK already operates a massive battery plant in Jackson County, about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta along I-85. Hyundai, meanwhile, is building a $5.54 billion EV factory near Savannah where the company expects to build battery-powered Hyundai, Kia and Genesis models starting in 2025.

In a sign of how rapidly the EV sector is expected to grow, the news release said the new $4 billion to $5 billion battery plant will serve Hyundai’s existing manufacturing plants in the U.S., which include a Kia factory in West Point and a Hyundai factory in Alabama.

The new battery plant, expected to rise in Bartow Centre along Ga. 411. SK On and Hyundai recently signed a memorandum of understanding regarding this partnership, the governor’s office said.

“Hyundai Motor Group and SK On are valued partners and key players in our state’s ever-growing automotive industry,” Kemp said in the release.

More than 548,000 EVs were sold in the U.S. through the first nine months of this year, up 70% compared to the same period in 2021, according to auto data firm Kelley Blue Book, which like The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a Cox Enterprises company. EVs made up about 5.4% of all new car sales in the first three quarters of this year, up from 2.7% last year.

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