Hyundai Puts Another $5 Billion Into U.S. Manufacturing

We constantly say here at InsideEVs that the world will continue to electrify, whether you like it or not. And, well, that’s still proving to be true. We’re still going electric (in some fashion) whether the powers that be want that to happen or not. And unfortunately, it looks like some people really, really don’t want us to go electric.

Welcome back to Critical Materials, your favorite one-stop for the day’s most interesting EV news.

Today’s trio of articles revolves around going electric in spite of it all, in some form or fashion. Hyundai steps up its investment in U.S. EV making by a lot, while BYD’s Thailand plant starts sending cars to Europe to circumvent tariffs on Chinese-made EVs. Plus, Waymo is officially starting to run in New York City, and not everyone is a fan.

Let’s get to it.

Photo by: Patrick George

Are the tariffs working? I don’t know, our own homegrown manufacturers like Ford and GM have openly said that the tariffs (especially the ones on Mexico and Canada) are responsible for staggering losses last quarter, but those same executives seem to speak in favor of protectionism in the long term. Moving manufacturing around to get in front of tariff losses takes time, but it looks like some manufacturers are playing ball. After South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s recent summit with the Trump Administration, Hyundai has announced its intention to invest another $5 billion into the U.S., bringing the total up to a whopping $26 billion in recent developments. 

The goal is to orient Hyundai’s supply chain more toward the U.S., thus the need for a new Louisiana-based steel mill for manufacturing, including for its vehicles. The Korea Times has laid out just exactly how this steel mill and other investments plan to really increase Hyundai’s investment: 

“Once we finish construction of the facility, Hyundai Motor Group will be able to build a complete value chain of producing not just steel, but auto parts and automobiles in the U.S., which will enhance our mobility competitiveness there,” a Hyundai official said.

The company also plans to increase its vehicle production capacity in the world’s largest economy over the next few years so it can reduce possible earnings losses from the 15 percent auto tariff applied by the U.S. to imported Korean vehicles.

Last year, Hyundai Motor Group’s auto manufacturing capacity in the U.S. reached 700,000 units. The company plans to expand the figure to more than 1.2 million after the new steel mill starts operations, possibly in 2029.

The group also shared its plan to source more localized parts for its electric vehicle models and gradually strengthen its alliance with local auto parts makers.”

On one hand, this seems good–Hyundai is continuing to press forward despite an increasingly anti-EV administration and the business-shattering impact of tariffs. On the other hand, I can’t help but be pessimistic when it comes to this administration’s international relations and trade deals. The addition of $5 billion is a lot of money, but President Trump is notorious for flip-flopping. This promise of investment may not be enough to smooth things over for the long term. South Korea is still facing a 15% tariff, which is pretty significant.

Recently, Waymo planned to expand to NYC, with the first permits granted to the autonomous-taxi service about a week ago. Waymo has wasted little time getting them on roads, with testing vehicles already out on the roads. They can’t pick up passengers yet, and they’re still accompanied by a specialist who could jump in at any time. Still, they’re there, traversing city streets dressed in the Waymo livery. 

Some New Yorkers are not happy about this, though. Even though it can’t take any passengers yet, it represents an existential threat to one of the city’s biggest professions: taxi drivers. Some insist that Waymo is aiming to take jobs away from New York, while others say that Waymo’s just not safe enough to be used on NYC city streets. Hell Gate NYC’s Morning Brew outlines just how angry some people are, as protests have been spotted at both Mayor Eric Adams’ and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul’s offices: 

Other driver groups have drawn a line in the sand (or the proverbial traffic cone in front of a Waymo). Brendan Sexton, the head of the Independent Drivers Guild, told the Daily News that Mayor Eric Adams had turned city-dwellers into “lab rats for Silicon Valley investors who are seeking to destroy the livelihoods of the 100,000 New Yorkers,” while the head of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, Bhairavi Desai, questioned whether the city even needs driverless cars.

Mateo said he hopes Governor Hochul “pulls the plug” on Waymo’s test program, but in a statement, a spokesperson for Hochul gave no indication that she was planning to halt the pilot.

“Public safety—including street safety—is a top priority of Governor Hochul’s,” spokesperson Sean Butler said in a statement. “New York State will continue to work with New York City officials to ensure the safety of any testing program.”

On some level, I think NYC taxi cab drivers do have merit; we’ve already seen this with the advent of ride sharing. The whole idea is to create a service that replaces or undercuts the cost of labor for a driver. When Uber and Lyft entered New York, although the price of a ride did go down dramatically, some say it had a cooling effect on driver wages. New York had to institute special wage and employment rules for Uber and its “non-employee” drivers that attempted to ensure that they have a chance at a living wage.

Self-driving cars may be a great technological advancement, but they start some really hard conversations about workers’ rights. I predict these conversations will only get more complicated as self-driving vehicles become more mainstream. With the biggest autonomous taxi brand gearing up to tackle America’s largest and busiest city, expect that to come sooner rather than later.

Chinese EVs are good, but the conditions that create them may be a little unfair, at least, that’s what the European Union insists. After last year’s probe into Chinese brands’ business practices exposed a level of subsidies that help tamp down EV prices, basically every brand has had a hefty tariff leveled on them for electric cars made in China and imported to Europe.

There’s a simple way to get around it, though – by not exporting from China to Europe. For most brands, this means building in Europe, but there are other ways, too. Alongside BYD’s future European plant, BYD’s Thailand plant came online last year. According to CarNewsChina, this week the brand announced that it was shipping 900 vehicles from Thailand to Europe, namely the UK, Germany and Belgium. 

“Following the delivery of our 90,000th NEV in July, we are once again achieving a breakthrough. The export of Thai-made Dolphin models to Europe for the first time not only represents another step forward in BYD’s globalisation strategy, but also underscores Thailand’s vital role in the global EV supply chain,” said Ke Yubin, general manager of BYD Thailand.

China-made EVs face anti-subsidy tariffs imposed by the European Union last year. As BYD was cooperating with the investigation, they faced a lower additional tariff of 20.7% on top of the existing 10% customs duty.”

BYD’s Thai plant is what is known as a “CKD” plant, or Complete Knock Down. For this manufacturing plant, the car is shipped over in pieces from another country and assembled on site. By comparison, a non-CKD plant may have some body stamping, painting, or welding work done on site. 

Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@insideevs.com