Separately on Tuesday, Hyundai Motor Group and General Motors announced plans to develop electric vehicle battery plants in the United States in collaboration with South Korean battery manufacturers.

Hyundai will form a $5 billion joint venture in the United States with SK On, a business that is also partnering with Ford to establish battery plants. GM will collaborate with Samsung SDI to invest $3 billion in an electric vehicle battery plant.

The collaborations come as EV battery rivalry heats up in the United States, with automakers both domestic and foreign rushing to create national battery supply chains in order to qualify for the Biden administration's EV tax credit. In April, new battery sourcing regulations went into effect, limiting the full $7,500 tax credit to vehicles using battery materials sourced and processed in the United States or by trade agreement partners.

The announcements coincide with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Washington for a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden. South Korean automakers have reacted angrily to the administration's new regulations barring automobiles made outside the United States from earning the credit.

Hyundai's collaboration with SK On is the result of a memorandum of understanding signed in November 2022. According to Hyundai, both firms will have a 50% ownership in the $5 billion investment.

The Hyundai-SK joint venture will build a battery cell plant in Bartow County, Georgia, adjacent to Hyundai's U.S. manufacturing sites in Alabama and Georgia. According to Hyundai, the plant will begin producing battery cells in the second half of 2025, with an annual production capacity of 35 GWh, enough to support the production of 300,000 EVs.