Undeterred by the recent ICE raid that rounded up hundreds of its workers in Georgia, Hyundai announced a fresh slate of investments in the US, including $2.7 billion into the EV battery factory where the raid took place. The automaker also plans to release a range of new electrified models, including extended-range EVs and over a dozen hybrid vehicles by 2030. But it will expand its gas-powered lineup with the debut of a mid-sized pickup truck for North America in 2030.
Hyundai made the announcements at its annual CEO Investor Day held in New York City — the first time the automaker has convened the event outside of South Korea. It was a sign that despite the setback in Georgia, Hyundai wasn’t letting off the gas. But the ICE raid still loomed large over the event. Hyundai CEO Jose Muñoz opened his remarks by expressing his sympathies for the detained workers and reaffirming the company’s commitment to creating jobs in the US.
The ICE raid still loomed large over the event
“I want to express our sincere sympathy for the workers from our facility,” Muñoz said. “We understand the stress and hardship this has caused for them and their families.”
On September 4th, ICE agents descended on the EV battery plant operated jointly by Hyundai and LG Energy Solutions, detaining nearly 500 workers, including around 300 workers from South Korea. Some workers said they were handcuffed, chained together, and kept in a detention center for several days. South Korean officials are reportedly investigating the incident for human rights abuses.
The Metaplant in Georgia may have been the site of the largest immigration raid in US history, but it’s also the centerpiece of Hyundai’s effort to bring more auto manufacturing to the North America market, which Munoz called the engine that fuels the company. A new cash infusion of $2.7 billion, parcelled out over three years, will help fund Phase Two of the plant’s construction. The company says the factory is on track to build 500,000 vehicles by 2028, with a particular focus on EVs and hybrids. The expanded production is projected to create 3,000 direct and indirect jobs in Georgia, the automaker said.
The Metaplant is also the site of Hyundai’s big push into robotics. The factory will be “software-defined,” Muñoz said, employing a term mostly used to describe new vehicles with powerful computers that can be updated over the air. It will also feature an army of robots, including those from Hyundai subsidiary Boston Dynamics, to work alongside the company’s human workers.
One of the new vehicles to emerge from the factory will be an extended-range EV, also known as an EREV, which uses a small gas engine to enhance the battery for even longer ranges. Hyundai says it expects up to 600 miles (960 km) of range from the new powertrain, which is expected to go on sale in 2027.
Hyundai also touted its approach to EREVs, describing its batteries as smaller with less than half the capacity as its battery-electric EVs, like the Ioniq 5. That could mean an EREV with a battery capacity of 30-40kWh, as well as a small gas engine. Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury brand, will be one of the first to introduce an EREV.
By 2030, Hyundai expects 80 percent of the vehicles it sells in the US will be built locally, with supply chain content increasing from 60 percent to 80 percent. That should go a long way toward appeasing the Trump administration, which has used the threat of tariffs to pressure companies to bring more manufacturing to the US.
But there was still the acknowledgement that EV sales are likely to grow much slower in the US than in the rest of the world, thanks to the administration’s elimination of EV incentives and subsidies. Muñoz characterized North America as “hybrid-driven,” while Europe and China were “EV driven.”
Globally, Hyundai is eyeing a big goal: 5.5 million vehicles sold annually by 2030, 3.3 million of which will be electric. That’s an increase of 1.2 million cars to Hyundai’s global capacity each year.
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