Ioniq 5 To Be Hyundai’s First U.S. Built EV

Hyundai EVs built in the U.S. will initially use battery packs sourced from SK On in Hungary

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 will be the first electric vehicle built at the company’s mega production plant in Savannah, Georgia, that’s set to open its doors this fall.

All Ioniq 5s currently sold in the United States are imported from South Korea. It is the brand’s best-selling EV in the U.S., with 33,918 examples finding homes in 2023, a 48% increase from 2022 and significantly more than the 12,999 Ioniq 6s and 8,866 Kona EVs sold over the same period.

Read: Hyundai Chasing Pikes Peak EV Glory With Four Ioniq 5 Ns

The Georgia site, which Hyundai calls its ‘Metaplant,’ forms part of a vast $7.6 billion EV complex that includes a joint venture battery factory with LG Energy Solution. Hyundai Motor Group global chief operating officer Jose Muñoz said it’s a “no-brainer” for the Ioniq 5 to be the first model built at the site, saying “it absolutely is the bestseller.”

The site will ultimately build six EVs from the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands and has the capacity to build up to 300,000 EVs annually. Auto News reports that the plant will have the flexibility to increase capacity to 500,000 units depending on demand.

Groundbreaking at Hyundai’s Georgia factory

According to Muñoz, the EV production line will be completed in October and manufacturing of the Ioniq 5 will start immediately. The complex’s battery factory won’t open for another year, meaning the Ioniq 5’s battery will continue to be sourced from SK On’s facility in Hungary.

The US-built Ioniq 5 is expected to be eligible for the full $7,500 federal EV tax credit when local assembly starts, even though the battery pack will initially be sourced from Europe. All future EVs built at the Metaplant will use batteries from the adjacent LG Energy Solution factory when it comes online.