State and county leaders lured Hyundai’s metaplant to Bryan County with $2.1 billion in incentives, most of that in tax breaks.
But because the federal Inflation Reduction Act also offers incentives to both EV consumers and manufacturers it sometimes improperly gets credit – or blame – for the massive plant that rolled out its first vehicle earlier this year.
President Joe Biden signed his signature climate bill into law on Aug. 16, 2022, three months after Gov. Brian Kemp and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung announced the deal for the vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in Ellabell.
Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America spokeswoman Bianca Johnson is clear the IRA hasn’t played a role in the plant’s construction.
“HMGMA has not received any IRA funding,” she wrote in an email to The Current.
The question arose because of an article in E&E News that stated that Hyundai executives “have credited the domestic production tax credits contained in the Inflation Reduction Act as incentives to scale up construction with massive investments.”
Hyundai spokesman Joe LaMuraglia clarified further:
“That story is inaccurate. My colleagues in CA asked for a correction (see the bottom of the story) and the journalist wrote a misleading correction.
“We have stated that we were eager to expedite construction and production so our vehicles qualify for the consumer tax credit but we have not received any funding from the IRA.
“The journalist implied that an HMGMA executive said that we moved production up because of the domestic production tax credits contained in the IRA. That is incorrect. No executive has said that.”
But Hyundai hasn’t ruled out taking advantage of production tax credits in the future.
“HMGMA explores all available options for maximizing its tax benefits,” LaMuraglia wrote in an email to The Current. “If future opportunities for receiving a credit arise, we will review and consider submitting an application.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
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