Despite the government’s efforts and the investment from local automakers, the electric vehicles are still shun local drivers mainly due to the lack of charging stations and the high cost of the vehicles, according to market watchers.
The penetration of electric vehicles in South Korea accounts for less than one percent of the global market, the governtment data showed. The number of electric cars registered last year stood at around 3,000, which is 0.45 percent of the global electric automobiles. The figure is way behind 39 percent of the U.S, 16 percent of Japan and 12 percent of China.
Electric vehicles usually runs 150 kilometers with one time charge though it depends on drivers’ driving skills and behaviors. What makes drivers hesitant to buy the automobiles are the inconvenience of the charging system. It takes around 30 minutes to charge 80 percent of batteries via boosting chargers - three time longer than conventional cars. The lack of charging system adds to the inconvenience of charging. Currently, there are only 240 charging booth in Seoul. Though the Environmental Ministry plans to install around 600 charging stations by 2017 nationwide, consumers who are reviewing to purchase electric vehicles now, should accept inconvenience.
The high price of the vehicle is also an obstacle to the purchase. The electric cars range in price from 40 million won to 100 million won. However, with 40 million won, drivers can buy a large sedan for ordinary cars while they can purchase only small electric vehicles. Drivers also feel burdened by the maintenance cost as the battery cost of electric vehicles takes up around half of the cars’ factory price. In order to reduce the consumer burden, the government is currently mapping out a battery lease program but the progress still seems slow, according to industry observers.
Market watchers say more infrastructure system and technology development are necessary to boost the industry.
An industry analyst says that, “Instead of simply discussing infrastructure related to charging systems, more paradigm shift is needed, for instance, by capitalizing on smartphone charging system.”
In recent months, more electric vehicle drivers are turning to charging systems located outside rathern than using their own chargers. The government data shows that the number of drivers use charging stations outside instead of using their individual chargers is rising.
According to the Korea Electric Power Corporation, the number of users who paid bills on electricity for electric vehicles increased twice to 2,200 this March, compared to 1,062 last April. During the same period, the electric amount of electric vehicles has reduced from 303㎾h to 241㎾h. In the metropolitan areas including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, where infrastructure is more developed, the average use of electric amount reduced from 473㎾h to 309㎾h.
On the other hand, the electric amount of Posco ICT, operating 120 chargers at 80 branches of E-Mart, increased to 2914㎾h this March from 284㎾h last August. The figure reflects that more drivers are charging their electric vehicles outside rather than home.
Most users of the charging system of Posco ICT are general electric vehicle users and they used around 3,000㎾h electricity only during March.
Analysts expect that competition of the charging market led by the private sector is expected to grow fiercer as Seoul is set to provide 600 electric vehicles for the private sector next month. More than 1,000 units are expected to run in Seoul this year, according to market observers.
According to the U.S. electric car magazine Inside EVs, the number of plug-in cars sold from January to April period stood at 120,000, up 52 percent from the same period of last year.
