For most of the past two decades, most electric vehicle investments have gone to Republican-led districts, particularly in the Southeast. The fate of these investments is now an open question as the industry moves away from electric cars and trucks.
Automakers and battery manufacturers invested more than $200 billion in U.S. EV and battery manufacturing facilities from about 2000 to 2024, according to Atlas Public Policy, a data and policy research firm. The company said about 84% of its battery investments went to Republican-controlled districts, as did 62% of its EV manufacturing investments. These were expected to create more than 200,000 jobs, 77% of which would be in Republican districts.
Almost half (40%) of all investments went to the southeastern United States, Atlas said. For more than half a century, the South has been a manufacturing hub for the auto industry, but the push for electric vehicles has brought about the largest investment in the region’s history.
Then, federal incentives for EVs enacted by the Biden administration’s anti-inflation law were stripped away, and sales fell below expectations. Companies that are able to do so are pivoting to other types of vehicles or completely different products to avoid losses and layoffs.
hyundai metaplant
Hyundai Metaplant seen in Elabelle, Georgia on September 9, 2025.
Ilya Nouberge | AFP | Getty Images
Hyundai Motor Group is one of the automakers undergoing change in response to the EV push.
The group, which includes the Hyundai, Genesis and Kia brands, was at one point the No. 2 EV seller in the country. teslasaid Hyundai Motor CEO Jose Muñoz.
However, soon after federal incentives for EVs ended, sales dropped significantly. Overall, HMG’s EV sales increased in the first quarter. By the fourth quarter, they were down 50%.
“We’re still outperforming the industry,” Muñoz said, “but it’s having an impact on the industry, and we saw that clearly in the fourth quarter.”
Hyundai has long had a large factory in Montgomery, Alabama, but when it announced in 2022 it made an unprecedented bet to build a $12.6 billion electric vehicle factory and battery joint venture outside of Savannah, Georgia.
The project, called the Hyundai Metaplant, is the largest investment in Georgia history and is titled RivianA $5 billion factory outside of Atlanta. Hyundai estimates it will employ about 8,500 workers at the factory by 2031, and an additional 6,900 at nearby suppliers. As of January, the company employed approximately 1,440 people.
According to Atlas, Georgia will lead the nation in EV manufacturing investment in 2024. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has said he wants to make the state the “electric mobility capital” of the United States.
Hyundai’s Metaplant factory was initially intended solely for EV production. The company actually accelerated construction so that the Ioniq5 crossover, which received rave reviews from critics and sold well for an EV, will qualify for the federal government’s $7,500 EV tax credit. The Inflation Control Act required that EVs be assembled in the United States and contain a minimum number of American-made parts to qualify.
However, under the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” these achievements were revoked as of September 30th.
As a result, Hyundai announced that it will invest an additional $2.7 billion in Metaplant to increase production by 200,000 vehicles, with the aim of producing 500,000 vehicles annually. The company is currently planning 10 hybrid and EV combinations, and Muñoz expects sales to be about 30% EV and 70% hybrid and gasoline.
Valuation loss
John Murphy, managing director at Haig Partners, estimates that U.S. automakers will likely face at least $100 billion in writedowns on EV investments, and that these investments are unlikely to produce the expected returns or may not produce any returns at all.
“This is the biggest capital misallocation in the history of the auto industry,” Murphy said.
It’s already started. ford announced in December that it would charge $19.5 billion for its unprofitable EV business, but its crosstown rival general motors He said the bill would be $7.6 billion. overseas car manufacturers such as honda, porsche Volvo and Volvo have both warned investors of similar claims of at least $1 billion.
Muñoz told CNBC that he doesn’t expect Hyundai to record a writedown. A key strategy for Hyundai is flexibility, with the company able to produce 10 models in a single factory, as it plans to do at the Metaplant, or 12 models at a soon-to-open plant in Ulsan, South Korea, allowing it to pivot as market conditions change.
“The more flexibility you have, the fewer problems you will have with changes in the environment,” he said. “So, honestly, I don’t think we’re going to see these reductions that we’ve seen with other competitors.”
The EV sales forecast is a fraction of what the industry expected just a few years ago. The Biden administration has aimed for 50% of new car sales to be electric vehicles by 2030.
“That was the goal,” said Peter Tadros, president of North American powertrain solutions at Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier. “Then, over the years, it went down to 35, 25, 17. So now the forecast for 2030 is 17%. So it’s a very big difference from the original forecast.”
Bosch has invested $250 million in its Charleston, South Carolina, plant, including plans for an electric motor division.
“This investment wasn’t made against 50% of the market, but it wasn’t made against 17% either,” Tadros said.
That means companies are being forced to make adjustments. Bosch was able to transfer almost all its employees from the EV motor division to other divisions. The plant also makes safety equipment such as electronic stability control and fuel injection systems, which are expected to be in high demand as the market shifts back to gas-burning vehicles.
Still, betting on EVs “caused some pain,” Tadros said.
“This facility is stuck because it can’t produce the volume we need to make up for this depreciation,” Tadros said. “Now we’re done. We’re ready to go. We’re looking forward to building more motors in the future. But it’s a difficult situation for that segment right now.”
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