Hyundai Motor breaks ground for new EV plant in Ulsan

Ulsan EV-dedicated plant groundbreaking ceremony [Courtesy of Hyundai Motor]

South Korea’s auto giant Hyundai Motor Co. broke ground on Monday on a 2 trillion won ($1.52 billion) plant dedicated to making electric vehicles (EVs) as the automaker accelerates a shift toward electrification.

“It is an honor to share our century-old company’s dream here,” Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung said at a groundbreaking ceremony held in the country’s southeastern city of Ulsan, the birthplace of Hyundai’s heritage. “The Ulsan EV plant is another step toward the next 50 years and the electrification era.”

Hyundai Motor plans to build an EV-dedicated plant with an annual capacity of 200,000 units at the Ulsan plant to develop and produce next-generation mobility in earnest. The new plant in Ulsan is the company‘s first new plant in Korea in 29 years since its Asan plant in 1996.

“The dream of creating the best cars in the past has turned Ulsan into an automotive industrial city today,” Chung said. “Starting with the EV plant, Hyundai will work together to help Ulsan become an innovative mobility city leading the era of electrification.”

The Ulsan plant, which started as an assembly plant in 1968, is considered the “heart of Hyundai’s car production” and played a pivotal role in Hyundai Motor Group’s growth into the world’s third-largest automaker.

The mass production of Hyundai‘s first proprietary model, the Pony, in 1975, is a particularly remarkable achievement, demonstrating unwavering dedication and employee’s drive to develop the first domestic car model amid a challenging domestic environment.

Chung highlighted the importance of people, even in the era of electrification, in keeping with the human-centric spirit of the company’s founder and the late Chairman Chung Ju-young, who emphasized the importance of engineering power.

“In both Korea and Hyundai Motor’s histories, people have played the most important role, and we believe that people are our assets,” Chung said, calling it Hyundai’s most important virtue.

In this regard, Chung emphasized that the new plant in Ulsan will be designed to be a futuristic factory that incorporates innovative technologies but will also be ‘people-friendly.’

The Ulsan EV plant will have an innovative manufacturing platform and an optimal working environment and will also be designed to reduce worker fatigue and promote active interaction among workers via a nature-friendly design, moving away from the gloomy atmosphere of traditional factories filled with heavy machinery.

The company also plans to apply the manufacturing innovation platform developed and verified by the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS) to the Ulsan EV plant.

The HMGICS manufacturing innovation platform includes demand-driven artificial intelligence (AI)-based intelligent control systems, eco-friendly low-carbon construction methods to achieve carbon neutrality and RE100 (100 percent renewable energy use), and human-friendly facilities for safe and efficient operations.

The location of the Ulsan EV plant is also of special significance, as it is located on the site of Hyundai’s former grounds where the company pioneered innovations while looking ahead to the future. The location was first used in the 1980s, when Hyundai was actively seeking to expand into overseas markets, to develop vehicles that could withstand various terrains and harsh climates around the world. Hyundai models such as Sonata, Accent, and Avante were tested for performance and quality on the site, and it was also where early research on advanced technologies such as EVs and autonomous driving was conducted.

The new plant will also feature a smart logistics system, introducing a flexible production system to respond to product diversification and global market changes as well as automating assembly facilities to enhance productivity and quality. Hyundai plans to complete the EV-dedicated plant in Ulsan by 2025 and begin full-scale operation in 2026. The first EV model to be produced at the plant will be the ultra-large sport utility vehicle (SUV) for Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury brand.

The groundbreaking ceremony, attended by Chung and other Hyundai executives, also saw the presence of former Ulsan plant managers who contributed to the development of the plant, including former Vice Chairman Yoon Yeo-chul, former Vice Chairman Kim Eok-jo, and former President Yoon Gap-han. Notable figures such as Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-kyum, 1st Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Jang Young-jin, and lawmakers Lee Che-ik, Park Seong-min, and Lee Sang-heon were also present.