This photo provided by Hyundai Motor Group shows an aerial view of HLI Green Power, an electric vehicle battery plant jointly built with LG Energy Solution in Indonesia, on July 3. Yonhap
Hyundai Motor Group said on Wednesday it has completed construction of an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant jointly built with LG Energy Solution in Indonesia, giving the Korean auto giant a fully integrated electric vehicle production system in the Southeast Asian nation.
Hyundai Motor Group announced that it has held a topping-out ceremony for the Hyundai LG Indonesia Green Power (HLI Green Power) battery plant in Karawang New Industry City, a manufacturing hub located east of Jakarta in the Southeast Asian country.
The group’s separate auto manufacturing plant in Indonesia will begin mass production of the KONA Electric EV from this month using battery cells produced by HLI Green Power, Hyundai said.
Since the opening of HLI Green Power, Hyundai Motor Group said it has established an integrated local production system in Indonesia – from electric vehicle battery cells to finished vehicles – enabling a strategic advantage in the Southeast Asian electric vehicle market beyond Indonesia.
According to Hyundai, HLI Green Power started production in the second quarter of this year.
The topping out ceremony was attended by 300 dignitaries and guests from Indonesia and Korea.
Among them were Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, as well as Korean Trade Minister Chung In-kyo, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung, Hyundai Motor Co. CEO and Chairman Chang Jae-hoon, and LG Energy Solution CEO Kim Dong-myung.
In his congratulatory speech, Chung said the completion of the plant and mass production of the Kona Electric in the country was the result of collaboration between Hyundai Motor Group and Indonesia.
He added that Hyundai Motor and Indonesia are together shaping the future of the electric vehicle ecosystem, not only in Asia but globally, while setting new standards for potential customers in the Southeast Asia region.
Chung also pledged that his auto group would further strengthen cooperation with the country in other areas, including hydrogen solutions and future air mobility.
With a total area of 320,000 square meters, HLI Green Power houses electrode processing, assembly and activation facilities and has an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt hours, sufficient for more than 150,000 electric vehicles.
The battery cells produced here will be used not only in electric vehicles manufactured at Hyundai’s Indonesian plant, but also in various Hyundai and Kia models in other countries.
The Kona Electric is the second electric model to be produced at Hyundai’s Indonesian plant, following the Ioniq 5. Hyundai expects the Kona Electric to play an important role in the growth of the Indonesian electric vehicle market.
As part of its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, Indonesia has announced an ambitious policy to boost its electric vehicle industry, including a target of producing 600,000 electric vehicles by 2030. (Yonhap)
