Hyundai Motor, LG Energy JV secure $710M investment for EV battery plant in Indonesia

Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution Ltd. have a joint venture for the production of lithium-ion battery cells. For this project, the companies are building a plant in Indonesia and raising funds for its construction.

The Korea Economic Daily reported that Hyundai Motor and LG Energy were able to raise $710 million or around KRW950 billion so far as they gathered investments from financial groups overseas. The firms carried out successful borrowing activities to finance the construction of their battery cells factory.

With the new investments, it is expected to scale up Hyundai Motor's move to boost its EV presence in the country. It was revealed that the South Korean automaker and LG Energy were able to borrow the needed funds from five financial organizations, including Hyundai Mobis, and they were granted favorable interest rates as well.

Then again, the fund will not be given to Hyundai Motor and LG Energy’s joint venture in a lump sum. Rather, it will be handed out step by step according to the progress of the construction in Indonesia.

It was agreed that the loan would be repaid in 10 years, and this was guaranteed by Hyundai Motor Co., LG Energy, Kia Corp., Hyundai Mobis, and the Korea Trade Insurance Corp. The new plant is expected to start the production of battery cells for electric vehicles within the first half of 2024.

Hyundai and LGES said that the facility would be able to produce 10 GWh of battery cells per year which is enough for 150,000 units of EVs. The firms chose to set up their production factory in Indonesia since it has large mineral resources such as cobalt and nickel, which are key raw materials for making EV batteries. In fact, the country is currently the top producer of nickel in the world since it has the largest reserves.

Finally, as per the Korea Post, Hyundai Motor and LGES succeeded in their borrowing at low-interest rates because of the high evaluation and potential of the project. Thus, despite the difficulties in raising funds, they were able to gather investments.