This New, Massive Building Will Be Hyundai’s First-Ever Electric Vehicle-Only Plant

Hyundai Motor Company has been making great strides in the world of electric vehicles (EVs). The Ioniq 5 we recently drove is one of the best cars we’ve driven in 2023, and this was followed up by the equally brilliant Ioniq 6. The South Korean automaker is therefore in a great position to scale up its EV production considering the popularity and desirability of its models. With that in mind, Hyundai recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new, EV-dedicated plant.

Strength In Numbers

The EV-dedicated plant (shown as a CGI mock-up) will be Hyundai Motor’s first new plant in South 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 its home market’s industry base.

Hyundai Motor’s new EV-dedicated plant in Ulsan will form part of a 548,000-square-meter site and it will have a capacity to produce 200,000 EVs per year. Approximately KRW 2 trillion ($1.53 billion) will be invested in the plant, with full-scale construction set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2023. 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.

Manufacturing That Puts Humans At The Forefront

Just as we’ve witnessed in Hyundai’s Indonesian plant, the EV-dedicated plant in Ulsan, South Korea, also puts people at the forefront. Manufacturing processes have been designed around human biology, which means that employee welfare will be unparalleled in the automotive industry.

Hyundai Motor plans to apply an innovative “manufacturing platform” that was developed by the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS) at its dedicated EV plant in Ulsan. Think of this manufacturing platform as a sort of template for its manufacturing processes, which, in the case of this new EV-dedicated plant, will future-proof the facility and prioritize employee safety, convenience, and efficiency. This manufacturing platform includes demand-driven, AI-based intelligent control systems; eco-friendly, low-carbon construction methods to achieve carbon neutrality and RE100 certification (100 percent renewable energy use); and human-friendly facilities that enable safe, efficient working.

Part of the human-centric philosophy is using advanced robotics and equipment that will reduce fatigue in employees as well as increase safety and therefore provide a comfortable work environment. The facility will also be designed in a way that it will be a nature-friendly space, breaking away from the closed image that comes to mind when thinking of a conventional plant. This nature-friendly design will also reduce worker fatigue and encourage socialization–breaking away from the usual dystopian image of manufacturing plants.

There will also be other facilities in the plant that is dedicated to employee welfare, such as the plant’s Central Park that brings the nature of Ulsan into the facility, while solar power panels and upcycled concrete panels will be applied to the building’s facade.

“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 Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group. “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.”