Hyundai Motor Company today held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new electric vehicle plant at its complex in Ulsan, the heart of Korea’s automotive industry.
The new EV-dedicated plant will lay the foundation for future growth in the era of electrification while building on the dream first established by Hyundai Motor’s Founding Chairman more than half a century ago.
“The new EV-dedicated Plant in Ulsan is the beginning of a promising future for the next 50 years and the era of electrification. I am honored to share our dream of a 100-year company here,” said Executive Chair Chung. “Just as the dream of building the best car in the past made Ulsan an automotive city today, I trust Ulsan will be an innovative mobility city that leads the way in the era of electrification, starting with a dedicated EV plant.”
The new EV-dedicated plant will be a human-centered facility with an innovative manufacturing platform that delivers an optimal working environment for employees.
The new plant will also be the hub for Hyundai Motor’s mobility production in the era of electrification. With the new plant, Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan Plant complex will become a base of future mobility production.
The EV-dedicated facility will be Hyundai Motor’s first new plant in Korea in 29 years, following the opening of the Asan plant in 1996. The dedicated EV plant will lead the electrification era, provide products that exceed customer expectations and strengthen the domestic industry base.
Reflecting this, the new EV-dedicated plant in Ulsan will be equipped with innovative production facilities, create an optimal working environment for employees and a space for coexistence with nature, and present itself as a people-centered plant that will lead the next 50 years.
EV plant to supercharge next-generation mobility
Hyundai Motor’s new EV-dedicated plant in Ulsan will form part of a 548,000 m2 site with a capacity to produce 200,000 EVs per year. Approximately KRW 2 trillion ($1.53 billion) will be invested in the project, with full-scale construction set to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. The construction is scheduled to be completed in 2025, and vehicle mass production will commence in the first quarter of 2026. An electric SUV from Hyundai Motor Group luxury brand, Genesis, will be the first model to be produced at the new plant.
The dedicated EV plant in Ulsan will be located on the site of Hyundai Motor’s former proving ground, a place where the company looked to the future and shaped innovation.
The proving ground was first utilized in the 1980s, when the company was actively seeking to expand into overseas markets, developing vehicles that could withstand the diverse terrains and harsh climates found around the world.
In this historic place, Hyundai Motor developed such high-quality global models as Sonata, Accent and Elantra (badged Avante in South Korea). It was on this site that advanced technology research for EVs and autonomous driving began early on, with the dream of creating world-class vehicles.
In 1991, Hyundai Motor’s first EV prototype, Sonata (Y2) EV, was developed, and the following year, the first driverless car successfully completed its initial test drive on the Belgian Road test track.
The comprehensive engineering test center, where many of Hyundai Motor’s vehicles were born and where the seeds for future vehicle research were sown, bore fruit with EVs, such as IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6, which have been recognized for their technological excellence around the world.
