Hyundai EV plant in Bryan County to be 3x size of Montgomery and other updates from SEDA
The ground has been turned so now it's time to build, Savannah Economic Development Authority president Trip Tollison told the Chatham County Commission during their meeting on Friday.
According to Tollison, construction of the incoming Hyundai EV plant is underway as of Jan. 9, adding that the clearing portion was completed. Clearing of the nearly 3,000-acre track of land in Bryan County began last August.
The $5.5 billion manufacturing facility near Savannah was announced last year with plans to employ 8,100 workers between an electric vehicle assembly plant and an adjacent EV battery factory, making it the largest single economic development project in Georgia history.
Tollison also provided a number of updates on the plant. Here are some takeaways:
More EV cars planned to come out of Bryan County plant
Last May, when the initial announcement on the Hyundai plant was made, officials said that the automotive company planned to manufacture around 300,000 vehicles a year once the assembly facility comes online around January 2025.
On Friday, Tollison said to expect even more.
While the plan is still set to begin with 300,000, Tollison told Chatham commissioners that the facility will have the capacity to manufacture 500,000, nearly doubling the initial estimate. In comparison, the company's plant in Montgomery, Ala., has the capacity to produce nearly 400,000 vehicles per year.
Bryan County plant to eclipse size of Montgomery plant
Hyundai has operated a 3.4-million square-foot manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Alabama, since 2005. The $1.8 billion facility was Hyundai's first manufacturing plant in the U.S. prior to the Bryan County announcement and resides on 1,744 acres of land.
According to Tollison, the Bryan facility will be three times the size of that plant. The estimate only contains the assembly plant and not the battery plant, which will start being constructed in the spring. Tollison said they expect to have an announcement on a battery partner in the coming months.
South Korean families finding a home in West Chatham
Tollison announced that former state senator and one-time gubernatorial candidate, Eric Johnson, would join the Savannah JDA as project director. On Friday, Johnson said they are looking into doing a housing study and pointed to one area specifically in the county where residents may see more housing developments in the future.
"New Hampstead will be ground zero, but there will be more need and opportunities to come,” said Johnson.
Switching gears, Tollison pointed to Pooler as a place South Korean families enjoy. Around 100 families have come so far and another 100 are expected to take up positions at the Hyundai plant.
“Pooler is popular with the South Korean families who are here already,” said Tollison.
Updates on Quick Start and other supplier jobs
A site for the Quick Start Center has been selected on Highway 280, Tollison said. The facility will cost $70 million and will be the home for training the local workforce for the incoming EV plant.
As suppliers have already begun to move into the region as the megasite is built out, Tollison offered an update on the projected jobs, which total more than 3,400 between the four suppliers here at the moment.
He added that the Savannah Chatham Manufacturing Center played a big role in getting suppliers for Hyundai to come to the area. Igneo Tech, which is not related to Hyundai but resides at the center, has 150 news jobs coming to the region.
"Without this park, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to land these companies,” said Tollison.
Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Hyundai EV plant in Bryan County GA to be larger than Montgomery site
