Thursday, November 21, 2024

Battery plant, infrastructure are in the works to support metaplant

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Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America is up and running as the company held a private ceremony to celebrate the production of its first car, the Hyundai IONIQ 5, the first week of October.

But according to Trip Tollison of the Savannah Joint Development Authority, there is still some housekeeping that needs to be done around the megasite.

Here is what to know.

More: Georgia issues permits to pump millions of gallons of water daily to Hyundai complex

What is left to do at the megasite?

According to Tollison, it could be another 6-8 months before work on the megasite is fully complete. During the Savannah JDA’s monthly meeting Wednesday, Tollison rattled off a few more items on the to-do list, including construction of the battery plant.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced in August 2023 that Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution will invest an additional $2 billion in their battery cell manufacturing joint venture, bringing the investment to more than $4.3 billion. The move added an additional 400 jobs, bringing the total to 8,500.

“That’s under construction and we knew all along that was going to lag behind the car plant, so we got to get that completed,” Tollison said in a separate interview. “There is also some grass to grow and some things to do around the stormwater retention pond.”

Infrastructure

A temporary roundabout on Highway 280 is currently operational and will eventually be one of five constructed in the area. The improvements are part of future infrastructure to support HMGMA.

“They shifted traffic into a temporary roundabout configuration at Frontage Road (Genesis Drive),” said Kyle Collins, communications program manager for GDOT. “It’s not in it’s final layout yet as other work continues on 280. That’s one of the many roundabouts to go in with those improvements.”

The roundabouts are 250 linear feet from curb to curb and travel lanes are 12-feet wide. The first roundabout is slated to be complete March 31, 2025. According to Collins, 4 to 8 crews of between 30 and 50 personnel are working on the road improvements on Highway 280.

“The roundabouts are bigger to accommodate the road widening and anticipated truck traffic in this corridor,” said Collins.

The 2.3 mile-long frontage road running parallel to I-16, also known as Genesis Drive, is now open to traffic.  

“We opened Genesis Drive three months ahead of schedule and when you think about things like that, the fact that we’re open, that we opened Kia Drive ahead of schedule, all the utilities are either on schedule or ahead of schedule, it is pretty awesome,” said Tollison.

How will Hyundai transport its vehicles?

HMGMA plans to ship up to 70% of its vehicles by rail. All vehicles that can be shipped within a 500-mile radius will be transported by truck. The company is not shipping any vehicles out of the Brunswick or Savannah ports at this time.

“We are continuing to grow toward full production but will not (be at full production) at this stage by the start of 2025,” said Bianca Johnson, assistant manager of public relations for HMGMA. “The number of vehicles that are expected to be produced next year has not been released at this time.”

Suppliers

The next big step for Hyundai is locking down suppliers, which will play an integral role in developing parts and exterior and interior components such as bumpers, tailgate latches and more.

There are more than a dozen in the region, including Woory Industrial Co., Ltd. in Dublin, Hanon Systems in Bulloch and Seoyon E-HWA in Chatham County.

Tollison could not pinpoint how many suppliers will be coming to the region but expects to see an increase in industrial growth to support Tier 1 suppliers, such as Sewon in Rincon.

“Tier 2 and tier 3 supplies could lease warehouse space but tier 1 suppliers would need to build their own facility,” said Tollison.

Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.

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