The new EV plant in Ulsan builds on the vision of Hyundai Motor’s Founding Chairman Ju-yung Chung, who believed the car industry would become the cornerstone of the Korean economy and underpin the country’s industrial development.

More than half a century ago, he chose Ulsan as the location to help to create a better outlook and realize Korea’s mobility dreams. Now, the new EV plant will build on that legacy with a global impact.

Beginning as an assembly plant in 1968, Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan Plant grew by leaps and bounds in an incredibly short period of time. Known as the birthplace of the Korean automotive industry, it was the home of the first independently developed Korean automobile, the Pony. Since then, it produced models such as the Sonata, Accent, and Elantra as well.

Today, the Hyundai Ulsan Plant is the largest single plant in the world.

The EV-dedicated facility will be Hyundai Motor’s first new plant in Korea in 29 years, following the opening of the Asan plant in 1996.

The new plant will form part of a 548,000-square-meter site with a capacity to produce 200,000 EVs per year. Full-scale construction is set to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. The construction is scheduled to be completed in 2025, and vehicle mass production will commence in the first quarter of 2026. An electric SUV from Hyundai Motor Group luxury brand, Genesis, will be the first model to be produced at the new plant.

Hyundai Motor plans to apply an innovative manufacturing platform that was developed by the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS) to future-proof the Ulsan facility and prioritize employee safety, convenience, and efficiency.

HMGICS’ manufacturing innovation platform includes demand-driven, AI-based intelligent control systems; eco-friendly, low-carbon construction methods to achieve carbon neutrality and RE100 certification (100 percent renewable energy use); and human-friendly facilities that enable safe, efficient working.

Hyundai Motor will use this to build a smart logistics system, including automated parts logistics, at the new EV plant. It will introduce a flexible production system to diversify vehicle models, respond to global market changes and automate assembly facilities to improve productivity and quality.

The new EV-dedicated plant will feature a nature-friendly design to reduce worker fatigue and encourage interaction with each other, a departure from the dreary factory environment of heavy machinery.

For example, natural light will be maximized inside the factory so that workers can feel the warmth of the sun, and the group lounge, which will be used as a rest and office space, will be organized in an open format so that people can gather naturally.

In addition, the plant’s Central Park, which brings the nature of Ulsan into the facility, is expected to become a rest area and a hub connecting each building.

Solar power panels and upcycled concrete panels will be applied to the building façade, making it a sustainable plant that minimizes carbon emissions.