If you purchase a basic model of Hyundai Motor’s electric car Kona in Seoul this year, you will receive a total of 12 million won. This is the effect of receiving a discount of about 25% of the vehicle price (based on the basic model). On the other hand, when you buy a Tesla Model S, you can no longer receive any government or local government subsidies anywhere in the country. If you buy a hydrogen car, Hyundai Nexo, in Seoul, you receive a subsidy of 33.5 million won.
On the 21st, the government released a plan to reorganize the subsidy system for electric vehicles in 2021.
The key to this year’s reorganization plan is to differentiate the standards for subsidies based on the amount of vehicles. There was no difference in the subsidy for electric vehicle purchases paid until last year depending on the vehicle price. Even if the Tesla Model S, which is a luxury vehicle with a factory price exceeding 100 million, was purchased, it received 12.5 million won in government and local expenses.
The government set a range of subsidies for electric car purchases starting this year, saying that subsidy equal to that of mid- to low-priced electric vehicles is not suitable for the original purpose of expanding the spread of electric vehicles. If the price of the vehicle is less than 60 million won, 100% of the purchase subsidy will not be paid, 50% if it is more than 60 million won and less than 90 million won, and not more than 90 million won. In addition to vehicle prices, government subsidies have been set for each vehicle type in consideration of fuel economy and mileage.
Accordingly, the models receiving the most government funding were the Kona of Hyundai Motor and Kia’s Niro, which are domestic models. Hyundai’s Kona basic model and Kia Niro (HP model) receive a total government subsidy of 8 million won.
Purchase subsidies paid as local expenses also vary according to government subsidies.
For example, if you purchase a Hyundai Kona basic model that receives government subsidies of 8 million won, you can also receive the full local subsidy. In Seoul, you can receive 4 million won in local subsidy. On the other hand, the Tesla Model 3 Standard Model, which receives a government subsidy of 6.84 million won, receives only 3.42 million won at the same rate as the local subsidy from Seoul.
When purchasing an electric car, the lowest local subsidy is received in Seoul and Jeju, respectively, with 4 million won. The place where you can get the most is Ulleung-gun, Gyeongbuk, for 11 million won. In Ulleung-gun, you can receive up to 19 million won in total.
As the subsidies for high-priced models with a vehicle price of 90 million won or more have been completely suspended, Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQC 400, Audi E-tron 55 quattro, Jaguar I-PACE, etc. will not receive a penny. Hydrogen cars will receive 22.5 million won in national expenditure this year. The domestic hydrogen car that benefits from this is Hyundai Nexo. The subsidy for hydrogen vehicles is 11 million won in Seoul, the smallest is 9 million won in Daegu, and 15 million won in Suncheon and Yeosu cities in Gangwon-do and Jeollanam-do. An electric vehicle or hydrogen car purchaser can submit an application for purchase support to the local government and pay only the difference between the vehicle purchase price and subsidy to the automobile manufacturer or importer.
If you purchase an electric car and use it as a taxi, a maximum of 10 million won is provided separately, and for an electric bus, a maximum of 80 million won for a large-sized vehicle and 60 million won for a medium-sized vehicle are supported. For electric buses, a minimum fee of 100 million won has been newly established to prevent the confusion of low-cost electric buses.
On this day, the government announced plans to reorganize support for eco-friendly vehicle infrastructure at the same time as the subsidy reform plan. The government provides up to 2 million won for 6,000 slow chargers of 7 kW or more and up to 500,000 won for 24,000 outlet chargers of 3 kW or more.
[오찬종 기자 / 송민근 기자]
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