Hyundai Ioniq 5 on the mounting line.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America is an entirely new EV factory of $ 7.6 billion.
Hmgma, located near Savannah, Georgia, opened its doors in March this year.
The factory will be able to build 500,000 EVs and hybrids for Hyundai, Kia and Genesis every year.
Metaplant America America, or HMGMA, is one of the most technologically advanced car factories in the world.
The plant, located near Savannah, Georgia, opened its doors in March and will be a key production for Hyundai’s EVS and PHEVS, as well as those belonging to its luxury brand and nursing company Genesis Kia.
In a recent interview with Business Insider, the Coo of Genesis North American Tedros Mengiste cited the investment as an example of Hyundai’s experience for “visionary and strategic and long -term thinking.”
I recently made a behind-the-scenes tour of the new Hyundai megaFactor, packed with autonomous robots and state-of-the-art technologies.
The Hyundai metaplamp is located in a campus of 3000 acres in Elabel in southern Georgia.
Hyundai Metaplanta America.Hyundai
Situated just 20 miles from the port of Savannah, one of the busiest in the United States, the plant not only gives Hyundai the much needed production capacity in the United States to avoid import tariffs, but also gives the company the flexibility of exporting vehicles abroad.
It also gives Hyundai the production footprint to compete against rivals such as Tesla, GM and Rivian, which also builds a new factory in Georgia.
Moving to the factory, it is easy to amaze from the pure scale of the scattered complex.
Entrance to Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America Campus in Elabel, Georgia.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
This is the second Hyundai Group car factory in the state. The company also manages a $ 3.2 billion facility, 2,200 acres in West Point, Georgia, which builds Kia EV and Ice SUV.
I went to the factory in a new SUV Hyundai Ioniq 9 EV 2026, which is one of the vehicles assembled in the metaplate.
Hyundai Ioniq 9 EVS is parked in front of the lobby at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia.Hyundai
The only other model assembled in the plant is Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV.
My tour began in the modern main lobby of the plant.
The lobby of a metaplanted is modern and enjoyable.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Hyundai broke at the facility in the fall of 2022 and took only two years to complete the construction of the main production buildings.
The metaplants consists of 11 buildings totaling 7.5 million square feet of space.
Map of Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The metaplant is a miracle of vertical integration in order to have so many key components ranging from batteries to seats made on site.
Here is a Hyundai Xcient Hedrogen Cell Cell, used to transport parts and deliveries to the factory.
This is one of the 21 trucks without emissions located around the Metaplant site.
The production process begins at the stamping store, where the sheet is cut and stamped into parts that will make up the frame of the car.
Stamping facility.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The sheet metal is delivered from the Hyundai steel facility in place.
The stamped parts are transported by automated vehicles or AGV.
Autonomous robots transport stamped metal parts.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The plant uses almost 300 AGV to transfer everything from spare parts to partially assembled cars.
The stamped metal panels are then stored in these massive shelves.
Shelves filled with stamped metal sections of Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 EVS.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Initially, the metaplant was expected to produce up to 300,000 electrified vehicles annually. However, Hyundai announced at the firm opening of the plant in March that its capacity would be expanded to 500,000 units in the coming years as part of a new investment of $ 21 billion in US production.
Here are parts of Ioniq 9, the new flagship of Hyundai EV SUV.
Parts of Hyundai Ioniq 9 EV in Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The plant is expected to start production of its first KIA model next year.
The next part of the tour is the welding store.
Ioniq 5 EVS in the welding facility at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Here the stamped metal pieces are welded with a robot to form the body of the car.
The work done by welding robots is then checked by human plant officials known as Meta Pros.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 EVS undergoes quality checks in the welding store.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Metplant employees more than 1300 Meta Pros, nearly 90% of which are hired locally.
Along the inspection and assembly areas, there are areas for meetings and interruptions of employees.
Holidays and meetings of employees in the welding store.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
In the main installation building there is a cafe of employees with the possibility of remote order.
In addition to human eyes, vehicles are also checked by a pair of dogs of Boston Dynamics robot, called Spot.
In 2021, Hyundai acquired an 80% share in Boston Dynamics in a deal that estimates the company of $ 1.1 billion.
Upon completion of the inspections, the robot charges partially assembled vehicles on a conveyor system.
Ioniq 5 EV is about to be raised on the conveyor belt to the paint store.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Next stop, paint store.
Unfortunately, my tour did not access the paint store because of fears that external visitors could compromise the quality of the paint app.
The bodies of Hyundai EV are moved from the paint store to the assembly facility at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
After receiving a fresh layer of paint, vehicles travel through a bridge to the installation building.
Here the painted bodies are married with their batteries and the skateboard chassis.
Ioniq 5 of the mounting line.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Hyundai Mobis produces a skateboard chassis in a building adjacent to the General Assembly facility. The battery factory is expected to be on -site operated on a joint venture with LG, it is expected to come online next year. The plant is currently depleting its batteries from other Hyundai facilities, including one in North Georgia, which is a joint venture with SK.
The vehicle interior is then assembled by hand.
Metaplanter assembly line where human workers join.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The further along the production process, the more you see human workers on the mounting line.
Partially assembled EVs are redirected from an area to an area of automated robots.
Ioniq 5 EVS in Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The whole facility was flawlessly clean, quiet and felt beautifully choreographed.
The assembled vehicles are loaded on different AGVs, which are oriented in the facility by reading QR codes embedded in the floor.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 EVS After testing soaking in Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
These AGVS transfer vehicles through the various quality control tests.
At the end of the mounting line, the completed EV are released through their steps on the test track on the spot before being sent to the vehicle or VPC preparation center to prepare them for delivery.
The completed Hyundai EV are ready for the batch of the dealer.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The vehicles intended for dealers in the region are put on trucks, while those who travel more than 500 miles are sent with a MetPlant train terminal on the spot.
