2025 was a big year for electric vehicle production in Georgia, as Hyundai opened its new electric vehicle assembly plant in Bryan County and Rivian held an official groundbreaking for its multi-billion-dollar facility.
And there’s potential for more growth, according to Alok Saboo, a professor of marketing at Georgia State University.
“A lot of infrastructure that we need to be a leader in the space we already have,” said Saboo. “We have a healthy ecosystem of universities and high-tech companies that are already present in the area to provide the talent needed to support all of these manufacturers.”
Hyundai recently opened a training facility near a battery plant that was raided by federal immigration agents earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Rivian is expanding training opportunities for veterans, technical college students and engineering students.
The California-based EV company is pledging about $300,000 to Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia.
This money will support tuition assistance for Tech engineering students and merit-based scholarships for UGA students, while also helping establish an E-Mobility Pitch Competition.
New training programs for Veterans and Georgia Piedmont Technical College trade students are set to expand opportunities for careers in EV maintenance and advanced vehicle software.
Rivian is also sponsoring the 78th Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, taking place in late March at UGA, and will remain a contributor through 2028.
In the meantime, Rivian’s $5 billion manufacturing plant is expected to begin its first phase of construction this year.
Saboo expects EV adoption to grow steadily, driven more by price than policy, after the federal $7,500 tax credit for new clean vehicles expired in September.
“So people are thinking less about the tax incentives and rebates and more about what is it that EVs help them with, let’s say, regular commute or their budgeting needs, and so on and so forth,” said Saboo.
The expiration of the federal tax incentive to purchase an electric vehicle triggered a surge in sales by the end of September.
Around 440,000 units were sold in the U.S. in the three-month period leading up to the tax credit’s expiration late last year, according to Kelley Blue Book estimates — up 40% from the previous quarter.
Brian Moody from Kelley Blue Book told WABE in September that, without the incentive, EVs will have to be more competitive to win over drivers.
“The good thing about the taxpayer-funded incentive going away is that it’s going to force automakers to have electric cars compete on an even playing field with other fuel types,” said Moody.
Hyundai Motor Company, which makes EVs in Georgia, slashed its prices following the end of the federally backed tax incentive.
“Manufacturers like Kia and Hyundai are gonna have to adjust their manufacturing mix to include some gasoline, which they already do, of course, and maybe a little bit less battery electric, but that’s just a guess, we don’t know yet,” said Moody.
Cox Automotive forecasts EV sales to decline through the early months of 2026.
This story is available through a news partnership with WABE, Atlanta’s National Public Radio affiliate.