SAVANNAH, Georgia ― Korean and Hyundai Motor Group officials on Tuesday celebrated the groundbreaking for a $5.54 billion Georgia electric vehicle factory — and used the occasion to urge Washington to restore tax credits for plug-in vehicles that Hyundai currently makes in Korea until it can start production in the U.S.
Hyundai and other manufacturers that build EVs overseas in August lost eligibility for federal EV tax credits in President Joe Biden’s landmark health and climate law. Changes to the $7,500 tax credits are intended to boost domestic EV production. Biden’s push to electrify the nation’s vehicle fleet has led to billions of dollars in commitments for new EV manufacturing in the U.S., such as Hyundai’s project in Bryan County near Savannah.
But Hyundai has said the changes in the federal tax credits put their current vehicles at a competitive disadvantage until their U.S. operations can ramp up and their cars qualify again.
