Hyundai opens $5B battery plant, closing in on Chevrolet
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- Hyundai and SK On opened their $5 billion, 50/50 joint-venture EV battery plant in Bartow County, Georgia, now in early production with plans to gradually scale up operations, per a joint-venture spokesperson.
- The Bartow County facility, part of Hyundai's $12.6 billion Metaplant America complex — Georgia's largest economic project in state history — is slightly behind its initial second-half 2025 target and is expected to reach 35 GWh annual production at full capacity.
- SK On has already been supplying batteries to the Hyundai Metaplant via its dedicated Commerce, GA plant since April 2025, while a separate Hyundai–LG Energy Solution battery plant near Savannah opened in April after a controversial ICE raid delayed construction.
- Hyundai sold 26,936 all-electric vehicles in the US in H1 2026, ranking as the #3 EV brand behind Tesla and Chevrolet and trailing Chevy by just 1,331 units.
- Chevrolet's EV sales fell 40% from ~47,000 in H1 2025 to 28,267 in H1 2026, while the Hyundai IONIQ 5 was America's third-top-selling EV behind the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y.
- The 2026 IONIQ 5 starts at $35,000, and Hyundai launched a summer sales promo offering 0% APR and up to $10,000 off EVs as savings from its domestic supply chain flow to buyers.
Why it matters: Hyundai's expanding Georgia battery footprint — the new SK On JV, SK On's Commerce plant, and an LG Energy Solution facility near Savannah — localizes cell production, enabling the $35,000 IONIQ 5 and 0% APR promos as savings flow to buyers. With Chevy's EV sales dropping 40% in H1 2026, Hyundai sits 1,331 units behind Chevrolet for the #2 EV brand slot.
