South Korea to extend electric-car subsidy to long-range vehicles too
South Korea to extend electric-car subsidy to long-range vehicles too
2017 Tesla Model S
South Korea presently offers electric-car subsidies, but only to shorter-range vehicles.
This somewhat unusual provision was put in place in 2012, the government says, to encourage sales of electrified cars with convenient charging times.
Under the current rule, electrified cars that can fully charge in under ten hours on standard household current receive up to twenty two million won ($Eighteen,328) in subsidies—but vehicles that take longer than that receive nothing.
That cuts out longer-range electrical cars with larger battery packs, which will take longer to charge from a standard household outlet.
South Korea is now considering switching the rule, Reuters reports, as government officials anticipate the arrival of long-range electrical cars from Tesla and other automakers.
A government official told the news service that a consultancy had been appointed to look into the matter, and will submit a proposal “by June, but it could be much earlier.”
The government hasn’t determined whether to keep the rule, discard it, or “come up with complementary rules,” the official said.
Presently, the subsidy rule primarily affects Tesla and Chinese automaker BYD, both of which have considered bringing their long-range electrified cars to South Korea.
Tesla had planned to open its very first South Korean showroom in the Starfield shopping center near the capital city of Seoul by the end of this year.
But issues with the registration process have shoved the opening date into early next year, Reuters says.
South Korea is among the top six countries for reservations of the 215-mile Tesla Model Three, which Tesla has said will begin production toward the end of 2017.
BYD planned to come in the South Korean market earlier this year, but delayed because its e6 electrical car would have been ineligible for subsidies, Reuters said.
Chinese battery electrical crossover: BYD e6 test drive, Los Angeles, May 2012
The latest model of the BYD e6 is EPA-rated at one hundred eighty seven miles of range from its battery pack, which is slightly larger than eighty kilowatt-hours.
The e6 has been certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for four separate model years, since 2012, but BYD is only testing the car in the U.S. in limited fleet usage.
BYD sold more plug-in electrical cars than any other automaker last year, primarily due to sturdy sales in its home market.
Meantime, there are no plans to sell the Chevrolet Bolt EV in South Korea at launch, or a concrete timeline for the begin of sales in the country.
That could be somewhat awkward, considering that local stiff LG did a considerable amount of development work on the car—and its predecessor, the Spark EV, was built and sold in South Korea.
LG provided not only battery cells, but other major components like the electrified drive motor, onboard charger, and the infotainment system of the Bolt EV, which GM says permitted the company to shorten the development time of its long-range electrical model.