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The Verge
6 days ago
- Automotive
- The Verge
Hyundai's new EV factory is teeming with robots — and wariness about the future
Driving a 2026 Ioniq 9 SUV around the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in Georgia can feel like a victory lap for the South Korean automaker. Hyundai's electric flagship carves out room for three America-centric rows of seats, from a booming brand whose EVs and hybrids already make up one in every four US sales. Even better, the Ioniq 9 and smaller Ioniq 5 are emerging from a futuristic new factory in America, giving Hyundai a defensible bulwark against the tariffs and onshoring fervor of Donald Trump's administration. As I watch these electric SUVs roll off a surgically clean assembly line, Hyundai's opportunistic timing looms as large as the hulking robots that help build its cars. A tour of the $7.6 billion factory also underlines how many automakers are plowing ahead with long-laid EV plans, regardless of Category 5 Washington winds that threaten to blow away Joe Biden-era support for EV manufacturing, consumer tax credits, and public charging. Hyundai's opportunistic timing looms as large as the hulking robots that help build its cars Seen from the air en route to Savannah, the Metaplant resembles a printed circuit board on a green background, blown up to epic scale. Eleven low-slung, pale-green buildings dot 3,000 acres of Georgia countryside, with a total 7.5 million square feet of space. One building houses a $4 billion battery plant, a joint operation with South Korea's LG Energy Solution, that plans to begin supplying cells for Ioniq models next year. The company is racing to open a second battery plant in Georgia, a roughly $5 billion joint operation with SK On. A forthcoming steel plant in Louisiana further underscores Hyundai's commitment to its largest global market. It's all part of a $21 billion investment in America between now and 2028, the vast majority pledged during the EV-friendly Biden administration. No humans required Pulling into the factory, I watch a conveyor carry freshly painted cars across a windowed bridge. It's designed to let drivers on Interstate 16 see the fruits of a plant that will ultimately produce 500,000 EVs and hybrids a year — more than Tesla's Texas Gigafactory, with its 375,000-car capacity. Georgians may also see their tax dollars at work. The publicly supported plant already employs 1,340 'Metapros,' enough to boost the automaker's annual local payroll to $497 million. Hyundai foresees an eventual 8,500 jobs on-site, and another 7,000 satellite jobs for local suppliers and businesses. That's a lot of jobs. Compared with the Detroit-area factory where I toiled in the 1980s, a depressing maelstrom of heat, dirt, toxic chemicals, and industrial accidents, this joint is like MOMA: a modern museum of manufacturing art. But the factory also highlights a catch-22 of modern manufacturing, one that Trump's economic advisors seem to overlook, intentionally or otherwise: To have any chance of competing with China's EV-and-battery juggernaut, factories must enlist growing armies of AI-enhanced robots that can potentially work 24/7 and never demand overtime or benefits. That means employing relatively fewer humans. At the factory loading docks, Autonomous Guided Vehicles, or AGVs, busily unload parts from semitrucks. Roughly 300 of these robotic sleds roam the factory with no tracks required, neatly avoiding workers or obstacles. AI informs the entire factory operation, from procurement to logistics to production. Roughly 300 of these robotic sleds roam the factory with no tracks required These AGVs are common in today's factories, but I've never seen them at this scale, or a certain tag-team maneuver: A pair of sleds slide below finished Hyundais as they roll off the line. They squeeze the cars' wheels in robotic arms, hoist them off the ground, and ferry cars where they need to go. I've visited car factories around the world, and this is the first I've seen where an employee doesn't have to start cars and drive them away. Automated vehicles also carry every component to the assembly line for efficient 'just-in-time' installation, no humans required. That avoids wasting money and labor stockpiling huge backlogs of parts. 'They're delivering the right parts to the right station at the right time, so you're no longer relying on people to make decisions' or losing time to mistakes, says Jerry Roach, senior manager of general assembly. Man's best friend does make an appearance. A pair of robotic dogs named 'Spot,' bred by the Hyundai-owned, Massachusetts-based Boston Dynamics, scan and sniff out potential defects on car welds. Those yellow-coated dogs may soon be joined by humanoid robots, the AI-driven 'Atlas' models that Hyundai plans to deploy throughout its factories in the future. The dexterous biped bots — whose ability to cartwheel, breakdance, and barrel roll already outdoes most auto workers — appear outwardly friendly, but will strike any sentient human as a potential Terminator of jobs. (Hyundai executives insist that is not the case). The welding shop alone houses 475 industrial robots, piecing together the building blocks of a car chassis. A steel stamping plant is so spookily quiet that no ear protection is required, even as robots stamp out roofs, fenders, and other body panels in a whirling, complicated dance. As with many leading-edge factories, there are strikingly few workers beyond the assembly line itself; I spot only a few dozen at work in the cavernous welding hall. Familiar industrial robots — but not yet humanoid Atlas robots — even install bulky car doors on the assembly line. Roach says that job is notoriously tough for workers to manage without potentially damaging painted surfaces. Such 'collaborative' robots must be safe and reliable enough to operate alongside humans without physical separation required. 'This is a real-life factory of the future,' Roach says. Clean energy targets Those kinds of jobs, involving massively heavy lifting, repetitive tasks, or computerized speed and accuracy, are 'prime things' to automate, Roach says. Other jobs require the tactile precision that only human hands and vision provide. 'I want my people doing craftsmanship,' Roach says. 'I want to pay people well for the things they do well, and take away all the stuff that's tedious and boring, the jobs people don't want to do.' Of course, some people might not mind tedious or heavy-lifting jobs that also pay a generous living wage. But there's no going back to the days when it took many thousands of workers to keep a factory humming; Ford's River Rouge complex, designed by Albert Kahn, employed more than 100,000 workers during World War II. Twenty-first-century carmaking also means the latest in green tech. The Metaplant targets obtaining 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Trucks that haul parts here daily from a localized supply chain are powered by hydrogen fuel cells and produce zero tailpipe emissions. The 21-truck fleet is built by the Hyundai-owned XCIENT, the world's first commercialized fuel-cell semis. Employees can park in nearly 1,900 spaces beneath solar roofs, shielded from baking Georgia sun, which provides up to five percent of the plant's electricity. The bulk of the factory's finished cars are shipped by rail rather than truck, trimming the plant's carbon footprint. Credit where credit's due Hyundai hopes those trains will work overtime shipping the 2026 Ioniq 9. Buyers will find a spacious, more affordable foil to a Rivian R1S or Tesla Model X, with 50 percent more cargo space behind its third row than Tesla. The sister car to the critically acclaimed Kia EV9 is the most expensive Hyundai yet, starting from $60,595 for a single-motor model with a modest 215 horsepower. The cocooning, thoroughly pleasant-driving SUV gets a 110 kilowatt-hour battery that supplies a generous 335 miles of driving range, or a still-solid 311 to 320 miles for AWD versions. It's stuffed with useful tech, including a curling pair of conjoined 12.3-inch screens, 100-watt USB-C connectors, and active noise cancellation. Ioniq 9 prospects may focus on a particularly compelling piece of tech: an onboard Tesla NACS connector opens the wide world of Tesla Supercharging to buyers. (The smaller Ioniq 5, which kicked off Georgia production in October, was the first non-Tesla with a native NACS plug). Like other EVs with advanced architectures of 800 or more volts, the Ioniq 9 doesn't charge at its peak rates on Superchargers. But Hyundai still cites a 10-to-80-percent refill in 40 minutes. That drops to 24 minutes on the most powerful 350-kilowatt CCS chargers from Electrify America. Ioniq 9s will come with free adapters to plug into CCS stations, opening access to a total 45,000 DC stalls in America. The Ioniq 9 is stuffed with useful tech Hyundai was also hoping to lure Ioniq buyers with a $7,500 consumer tax credit, including by switching Ioniq 5 production from South Korea to Georgia. For the Ioniq 9 I tested — a top-shelf, $75,000 Calligraphy AWD model with 422 horsepower from a pair of electric motors — that credit would represent 10 percent of the price. But now the Trump administration is turning on electrified cars, the majority built in Republican-led states, in unprecedented, nearly malicious fashion. It is kneecapping those credits, blocking public money for chargers, and saddling EVs and hybrids with annual fees for road maintenance. Hyundai had also taken its lumps under the Biden administration: The IRA made its imported EVs ineligible for tax credits, despite Hyundai's pledge of billions of dollars in US investment. José Muñoz, Hyundai's global president, made it clear the company felt blindsided and unfairly sidelined from credits. The Metaplant was one answer, allowing Hyundai to shift Ioniq 5 production from South Korea. That boosts the model's percentage of US- and Canadian-made parts from a piddling two percent to 63 percent, including US-sourced batteries. For the Ioniq 9, the North American share sits at 60 percent. Finally, Hyundai could tout both American-made Ioniq models as being fully eligible for $7,500 consumer tax credits, as executives did during my plant tour. But in a bitter irony, a Hyundai that crossed oceans and moved mountains to jump-start US production of Hyundai, Kia, and luxury Genesis EVs is about to be shut out of credits. Again. There are lessons in there, somewhere. For tariff proponents, the Metaplant might be a $7.6 billion lesson in reality: No American factory can screw together a single car without some share of imported parts, including from a China that holds a near-monopoly on several raw or processed battery materials. For automakers, including (surely envious) Hyundai rivals now under pressure to onshore their own factories, the lessons are different. They must deal with the Trump administration's ever-changing tariff moods, in a business that lives for long-term clarity, regulatory consistency, and economic stability. For every EV maker, including a Hyundai Motor that seemingly did everything by the book, a conclusion appears inescapable: They are on their own. Expect no help from Washington, but rather potential hurt. The only possible strategy is to roll up their sleeves, keep their heads down, and avoid further kicks to the teeth.
Miami Herald
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Georgia Hyundai factory fined for violating state wastewater rules
Business Georgia Hyundai factory fined for violating state wastewater rules Georgia environmental regulators have fined the hulking Hyundai electric vehicle factory nearSavannah $30,000 for violating state wastewater disposal rules. The $7.6 billion facility, known as the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, opened in October and is the largest economic development project in Georgia history. The plant manufactures two of Hyundai's EV models, the IONIQ 5 and the IONIQ 9. The fine levied by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division concerns the Metaplant's handling of its industrial wastewater. In a statement, Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America spokesperson Bianca Johnson said the facility "has worked diligently with the EPD on all aspects of our wastewater management issues and improvements." "HMGMA (Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America) has upgraded its wastewater treatment equipment and continues to work with the EPD to ensure compliance," Johnson added. Inside the Metaplant, metal finishing and other manufacturing processes produce hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater each month, according to contracts shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Hyundai's long-term plan for managing its wastewater is to pump it for treatment at a new water reclamation facility in Bryan County, where the factory is. But that plant is still under construction and won't be operational until later this year. In the meantime, Savannah had permitted Hyundai to release wastewater into the city's sewer system for treatment at the Travis Field Water Reclamation Facility near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. That arrangement didn't last long. In September, less than a month after Hyundai began sending effluent to Savannah, the company says it notified the city that its wastewater "exceeded their limits" and immediately halted its discharges. On Oct. 1, the city of Savannah sent a notice of violation to Hyundai showing that high levels of copper and zinc were detected in wastewater it received from Hyundai. The metal concentrations, Savannah water officials said, were disrupting the chemical treatments and bacteria Savannah uses to ensure wastewater is safe before releasing it into the environment. With the Savannah option off the table, Hyundai turned to another stopgap solution: Last fall, the Metaplant began storing wastewater on site and using outside companies to haul it to facilities in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, according to an EPD consent order. The problem, EPD says, is that Georgia's water quality rules require factories like Hyundai's to obtain a separate permit before transferring wastewater to other facilities. Once the Metaplant was no longer a construction site, Hyundai's storage of wastewater in sewage tanks on site also violated state law, EPD said. The Metaplant's wastewater treatment issues were first reported by The Current. On top of the fine, EPD ordered Hyundai to submit a corrective action plan. Johnson, the Hyundai Metaplant spokesperson, said the company submitted the plan to EPD last week and is working with the agency on a final version. Trip Tollison, the CEO and president of the Savannah Economic Development Authority - which helped recruit the Metaplant to the Savannah area - said he was encouraged by Hyundai's work toward a permanent wastewater solution. "HMGMA is creating jobs and opportunities for thousands of Georgians, and we are confident they will continue to make positive contributions to the local economy while upholding their environmental responsibilities," Tollison said. The dustup is the latest stir the massive plant has caused in southeast Georgia, where water supplies are tight and closely managed. Hyundai's plan to pump millions of gallons of groundwater a day from a neighboring county for EV manufacturing has drawn pushback from farmers living near the wells who worry the factory's thirst could leave their own wells dry. Last fall, EPD approved permits for the wells in nearby Bulloch County. The nonprofit Ogeechee Riverkeeper, which has challenged local decisions concerning the Metaplant's environmental impact, said it was pleased with EPD's fine and expects "it will serve as a deterrent to industrial wastewater producers against any future violations." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Korea Herald
31-03-2025
- Automotive
- Korea Herald
Glimpse into future of manufacturing: Hyundai Motor Metaplant America
Korean automaker's newest US factory showcases array of cutting-edge AI, robotics and autonomous technologies ELLABELL, Georgia — 'My story begins just down the road, having been born and raised right here in Ellabell. As a young girl, I used to ride four-wheelers in the woods near the Metaplant property.' Charlene Toole, a representative of the employees at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, called herself 'the definition of a small town girl' and Ellabell her forever home. 'I never would have imagined that it would also become home to such a large career opportunity for me,' she said. HMGMA, the Korean automaker's newest auto manufacturing site in the US, has opened up possibilities for local residents to build the future of mobility together — exactly what Hyundai hoped to create with the establishment of the state-of-the-art plant. The Korea Herald had a chance to tour the inside of HMGMA on Thursday, a day after the plant's grand opening ceremony. Covering 11.76 million square meters, HMGMA's production line began with an unusual stamping process, which had a lower noise level than other traditional stamping facilities at legacy automakers. The aisles were stacked with thousands of pressed metal sheets transported through an automated storage and retrieval system, and the floors were bustling with automated guided vehicles, or AGVs, carrying tens of panels. Kim Han-gon, vice president of HMGMA production group, shared that the warehouse can store enough supplies to back up production for 1 1/2 days. According to Kim, HMGMA has secured an automation rate of 91 percent for vehicle body panel production. 'All products are controlled by machines and we use vision quality inspections as well as an (artificial intelligence-based) quality control system to craft the best quality,' he said. Numerous robotic arms were constantly moving at the welding shop, putting together the panels to build vehicle bodies. HMGMA boasts a 100 percent automation rate for the welding shop, featuring the world's first application of an autonomous correction system that can ensure zero gaps when installing the doors on the body of a car. At the end of the welding process, Spot, a four-legged surveillance and inspection robot developed by Hyundai Motor's US robotics arm Boston Dynamics, checked the body condition of each vehicle. The most pleasant surprise of the HMGMA tour was in the assembly shop, where an arch-shaped roof with glass panels shed sunlight on the workers' rest areas and wooden structures add a nature-like atmosphere. Thanks to the sunlight shining through the glass roof, the inside of the assembly shop felt lively. On top of focusing on setting up a human-centric working environment, HMGMA designed the assembly shop in a way that it could feature more automation than ever. In contrast to traditional assembly shops where hundreds of workers are stationed along a conveyor belt to assemble various parts of the vehicle, HMGMA uses AGVs to transport the cars in some steps of the assembly process. After the vehicles are fully assembled, parking robots on the ground transport the final products through an uncrewed quality check. Overall, HMGMA brought Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore to mind, the Korean automaker's test bed established in 2023 to advance smart mobility solutions. Kwon Oh-chung, head of HMGMA, noted that there were about 880 employees at the software-defined factory. 'We have been trying to hire locals as quickly as we can through various channels,' he said. 'We have been going to nearby schools and military camps while partnering with technical colleges … We have people who take pride in their work here.' hwkan@
Korea Herald
30-03-2025
- Automotive
- Korea Herald
Glimpse into future of manufacturing: Hyundai Motor Metaplant America
Korean automaker's newest US factory showcases array of cutting-edge AI, robotics and autonomous technologies ELLABELL, Georgia — 'My story begins just down the road, having been born and raised right here in Ellabell. As a young girl, I used to ride four-wheelers in the woods near the Metaplant property.' Charlene Toole, a representative of the employees at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, called herself 'the definition of a small town girl' and Ellabell her forever home. 'I never would have imagined that it would also become home to such a large career opportunity for me,' she said. HMGMA, the Korean automaker's newest auto manufacturing site in the US, has opened up possibilities for local residents to build the future of mobility together — exactly what Hyundai hoped to create with the establishment of the state-of-the-art plant. The Korea Herald had a chance to tour the inside of HMGMA on Thursday, a day after the plant's grand opening ceremony. Covering 11.76 million square meters, HMGMA's production line began with an unusual stamping process, which had a lower noise level than other traditional stamping facilities at legacy automakers. The aisles were stacked with thousands of pressed metal sheets transported through an automated storage and retrieval system, and the floors were bustling with automated guided vehicles, or AGVs, carrying tens of panels. Kim Han-gon, vice president of HMGMA production group, shared that the warehouse can store enough supplies to back up production for 1 1/2 days. According to Kim, HMGMA has secured an automation rate of 91 percent for vehicle body panel production. 'All products are controlled by machines and we use vision quality inspections as well as an (artificial intelligence-based) quality control system to craft the best quality,' he said. Numerous robotic arms were constantly moving at the welding shop, putting together the panels to build vehicle bodies. HMGMA boasts a 100 percent automation rate for the welding shop, featuring the world's first application of an autonomous correction system that can ensure zero gaps when installing the doors on the body of a car. At the end of the welding process, Spot, a four-legged surveillance and inspection robot developed by Hyundai Motor's US robotics arm Boston Dynamics, checked the body condition of each vehicle. The most pleasant surprise of the HMGMA tour was in the assembly shop, where an arch-shaped roof with glass panels shed sunlight on the workers' rest areas and wooden structures add a nature-like atmosphere. Thanks to the sunlight shining through the glass roof, the inside of the assembly shop felt lively. On top of focusing on setting up a human-centric working environment, HMGMA designed the assembly shop in a way that it could feature more automation than ever. In contrast to traditional assembly shops where hundreds of workers are stationed along a conveyor belt to assemble various parts of the vehicle, HMGMA uses AGVs to transport the cars in some steps of the assembly process. After the vehicles are fully assembled, parking robots on the ground transport the final products through an uncrewed quality check. Overall, HMGMA brought Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore to mind, the Korean automaker's test bed established in 2023 to advance smart mobility solutions. Kwon Oh-chung, head of HMGMA, noted that there were about 880 employees at the software-defined factory. 'We have been trying to hire locals as quickly as we can through various channels,' he said. 'We have been going to nearby schools and military camps while partnering with technical colleges … We have people who take pride in their work here.' hwkan@
Forbes
23-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
790,000 Jobs, $160 Billion GDP: Shocking Costs Of Inflation Reduction Act Repeal
Gas Power Plant Behind Fence and Locked Gate, Shutterstock ID#1694681248 In 2022, Hyundai announced it was investing $5.5 billion to build a 'Metaplant' manufacturing electric vehicles and batteries in Bryan County, Georgia. It promised more than 3,500 good-paying jobs first building the massive manufacturing facility, then making electric vehicles that cut consumer bills by providing cheaper transportation choices. 'This is the largest investment in the state of Georgia's history, one that will diversify and expand our economy while providing strong job opportunities for Georgians today and for generations to come,' said Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-1). When the Metaplant opened in October 2024, months ahead of schedule, it started shipping Hyundai Ioniq 5 EVs, the fourth-best selling EV in America. It also started generating millions in salaries, tax revenue, and economic activity across Southeast Georgia. This is just one example of how the Inflation Reduction Act's federal clean energy tax credits and government funding programs have supercharged America's economy. Through January 2025 these policies have attracted $600 billion in new private investment across roughly 750 projects and created more than 406,000 new jobs. But Trump administration proposals to repeal IRA federal policies to pay for tax cuts to benefit the wealthiest Americans – now being considered by Congress, which passed the IRA in 2022 – could halt this economic engine. That's ironic considering 77% of the IRA's clean energy and deployment investment have gone to Congressional districts represented by Republicans, and likely the reason 21 GOP Members of the House of Representatives oppose repealing them. New Energy Innovation modeling shows that if the IRA is repealed, America's economy and its households, will pay a staggering price. The United States is already facing a potential recession – we simply can't afford to grind the clean energy economic engine to a halt. If the IRA is repealed by Congress, in 2030 our economy would lose nearly 790,000 jobs and $160 billion in GDP. Between 2025 and 2035, American households would be forced to pay $32 billion in higher cumulative household energy bills. In 2035, we'd lose $190 billion from national GDP. These economic damages would be a result of companies cancelling announced factories and expected private investment drying up as the federal government signals to corporations that America's clean energy economy is no longer open for business. As fewer clean energy manufacturing facilities are built, construction activity dries up, costing jobs and cutting income across the board. PASADENA, CA - MAY 14: Job seekers look over job opening fliers at the WorkSource exhibit, a ... More collaborative effort by governmental agencies to offer jobs and job training resources at the Greater Los Angeles Career Expo at the Pasadena Convention Center on May 14, 2009 in Pasadena, California. Nineteen exhibitors offer job and educational opportunities as well as advice from the Board of Equalization at the event that is open to the general public. (Photo by) This economic slowdown isn't theoretical. Hundreds of billions in private investment and state funds could be wasted on projects that may now be cancelled – more than 42,000 jobs and $57 billion in investment have already been stopped or stalled by Trump administration proposals since January 2025 alone. And the economic slowdown isn't surprising. Financial services company Moody's analyzed President Trump's campaign policy platform in June 2024 and found that it would increase inflation and weaken economic growth, threatening a recession as soon as mid-2025. As fewer clean energy technologies like solar panels, EVs, and batteries are deployed, energy costs would rise as consumers are forced to pay volatile power prices from utilities and oil companies whose commodities are traded on a global market. Average U.S. household electricity prices rose nearly 22% from 2018-2023, and could rise another 7% in 2025, especially if gas prices rise 91% by 2026 as predicted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. IRA repeal would throw fuel on that fire. A recent analysis for the right-leaning group ConservAmerica estimates repealing just two of the IRA's tax credits would spike consumer electricity costs $51 billion annually by 2035. John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra, one of the country's largest utilities warned, 'if you take renewables and storage off the table, we're going to force electricity prices to the moon.' Every state in the country would suffer economically if federal clean energy policies are repealed – they'd face higher consumer costs and job losses, along with lower GDP and less private investment. But five states would be America's biggest losers, and they're not liberal bastions. Of all 48 states modeled, Texas is America's biggest loser if federal clean energy policies are repealed, followed by California (the world's fifth-biggest economy), Florida, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. Americans have the right to choose the cheapest energy technologies like solar energy and EVs instead of being forced to stay hooked on expensive and outdated forms of energy. POMONA, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 19: GRID Alternatives employees Sal Miranda (R) and Tony Chang install ... More no-cost solar panels on the rooftop of a low-income household on October 19, 2023 in Pomona, California. GRID Alternatives has installed no-cost solar for over 29,000 low-income households located in underserved communities which are most impacted by pollution, underemployment and climate change. They are the country's biggest nonprofit clean energy technologies installer and operate in California, mid-Atlantic states and Colorado. (Photo by) Clean energy was a $2 trillion global market in 2024, and abandoning that market means we cede economic opportunity to countries like China while factories once again close their doors and workers lose their jobs. The policy choices Congress makes today will reverberate across our economy for decades. Repealing policies that create jobs, fight inflation, and increase GDP isn't how we do business in this country. Or, at least, it's not how we should do things.
