Biden highlights Hyundai investment pledge, saying EVs are good for climate, jobs and business

President Biden on Sunday said electric vehicles (EVs) are good for climate, jobs and businesses, highlighting Hyundai’s announcement that the automotive manufacturer will spend more than $5 billion to build an EV plant near Savannah, Georgia.

During remarks in Seoul, South Korea alongside Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, Biden noted the U.S.’s climate goal for electric vehicles and emphasized his administration’s commitment to achieving the objective.

“Last year, standing together with the CEOs of major American manufacturers, along with the CEO and the head of the United Auto Workers, I signed an executive order setting a goal of having 50 percent of all new vehicles sold by the year 2030 be electric.  And it’s an ambitious target, I know, but I believe we can meet it,” Biden said.

“But we’re all committed to making it happen — auto companies, American UAW, and the — and the federal government as well — because all understand the same basic thing: Electric vehicles are good for our climate goals, but they’re also good for jobs, and they’re good for business,” he added.

Biden’s comments come days after Hyundai Motor Group announced that it will spend $5.5 billion on a new electric vehicle plant near Savannah, which will lead to the hiring of at least 8,100 people.

The plant will be Hyundai’s first facility focused on assembling electric vehicles. It will also create vehicle batteries.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023, and in 2025 it is expected to start manufacturing up to 300,000 vehicles annually.

Biden, during remarks alongside Chung on Sunday, said “thanks to Hyundai, we are being part of this transformative automobile sector and accelerating us on the road where we’re going to be [heading] to — the United States — an all-electric future.”

“And that’s what we’re shooting for,” he added.

The president also underscored the strength of American workers and union efforts.

“Hyundai and any company investing in the United States would benefit greatly from entering into partnerships with some of the most highly skilled, dedicated, and engaged workers in the world, anywhere you can find. And that is American union members,” Biden said.

“And again, every venture to manufacture electric vehicles and electric vehicle batteries would be made stronger by a collective bargaining relationship with our unions,” he added.