![On the 18th, at the Hyundai Motor and Kia R&D Center in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, public-private officials, including Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun (second left), Chairman Eui-sun Eui-sun Hyundai Motor Group (fourth from left), and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo (fifth from left), are looking at Hyundai Motor's electric vehicle production facilities. [한주형 기자]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/neds/2021/02/image_readtop_2021_163649_16136639334546157.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
On the 18th, at the Hyundai Motor and Kia R&D Center in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, public-private officials, including Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun (second left), Chairman Eui-sun Eui-sun Hyundai Motor Group (fourth from left), and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo (fifth from left), are looking at Hyundai Motor’s electric vehicle production facilities. [한주형 기자]By 2025, the government will cut the initial purchase cost of electric vehicles in half and extend tax incentives such as individual consumption tax to supply a total of 2.83 million eco-friendly vehicles.
On the morning of the 18th, Prime Minister Jeong Se-gyun discussed the ‘4th Basic Plan for Eco-Friendly Vehicles’ at the Hyundai Motor and Kia Research Institute in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do. Prime Minister Chung, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Eui-sun Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor Company President Gong Young-woon, Hyundai Glovis President Kim Jung-hoon, LG Energy Solutions President Kim Jong-hyun, and KST Mobility CEO Lee Haeng-ryul attended the event. Prime Minister Chung visited exhibits such as electric vehicle platforms and electric vehicle parts, and then moved to a driving test site to test-drive Hyundai’s electric vehicle’Ionic 5′.
Prime Minister Chung’s follow-up measures for eco-friendly cars after meeting businessmen on this day focus on’price cuts’. The government has decided to lower vehicle prices by more than 10 million won by 2025 by supporting the development of a platform for electric vehicles and promoting localization of materials such as batteries and fuel cells. In addition, there is a plan to further reduce vehicle purchase costs by leasing (lease) batteries, which account for about 40% of the price of electric vehicles. The plan is to induce price cuts by improving electric vehicle quality while lowering the cost required for production.
The government will support the development of a platform for electric trucks and buses, and it will invest about 1139 billion won to localize core materials such as batteries and fuel cells.
It will also promote technological innovation, such as securing an additional electric vehicle mileage of 60 km or more by increasing the battery energy density and improving fuel consumption by 15%. In order to launch a fully autonomous vehicle in 2024, core parts will be upgraded and all-solid-state batteries, which are illuminated as next-generation secondary batteries, are planned to be commercialized by 2030.
The government predicts that the price of electric vehicles can be reduced by more than 10 million won than before through such technological innovation. In addition, it was decided to actively review the extension of eco-friendly vehicle tax benefits (individual consumption tax, acquisition tax, etc.) that will expire at the end of this year. Prime Minister Chung said, “We will set this year as the first year of the era of popularization of eco-friendly cars, and we will accelerate the innovation based on supply and demand so that our company can establish itself as the first mover in the global market.”
The business of lending electric vehicle batteries is also drawing attention. On this day, the Ministry of Industry and Hyundai Motors (electric vehicles), Hyundai Glovis (logistics), LG Energy Solutions (battery), and KST Mobility (taxi platform) signed a related agreement and decided to jointly promote the project. A pilot project for electric taxis and trucks will begin this year, and the business will be expanded to hydrogen buses next year. For this, first of all, 20 Hyundai Electric Vehicles,’Kona EV’, are scheduled to be operated from next month.
According to the agreement, a taxi platform operator purchases an electric vehicle and immediately sells the ownership of the battery to a leasing operator. After that, the business operator pays the battery lease on a monthly basis during the holding period of the electric vehicle. In this case, the operator actually purchases electric vehicles at a low price without the battery price. In this process, the battery cycle model is also activated. When replacing the battery installed in an electric taxi with a new one, the battery after use is made into an energy storage device (ESS) and used for rapid charging of electric vehicles. You can save money by charging the ESS during the late night time when electricity is cheap and by using the ESS during the day when electricity is expensive.
Hyundai Motor will sell Kona EV to KST Mobility, a taxi platform operator, while overseeing the demonstration project. It is responsible for battery warranty as well as sales of replacement batteries. Hyundai Glovis operates a battery rental service and performs battery recovery and logistics after use. LG Energy Solution purchases batteries after use and analyzes the safety and residual value. In addition, after use, ESS is produced from batteries, mounted on rapid chargers for electric vehicles, and sold to vehicle operator KST Mobility.
KST Mobility will operate an electric vehicle-based taxi franchise service and utilize ESS rapid chargers for taxi charging. The driving and battery-related data collected through electric taxi operation will be shared with companies participating in the agreement.
An official from Hyundai Motors said, “This is an example of the government and industry working together to spread electric vehicles and to expand reuse of batteries after use. We look forward to establishing an electric vehicle ecosystem early through the demonstration of new innovative models.” In particular, the industry predicts that this project will be able to expand into a model that can reduce the price gap with an internal combustion engine car even in countries without subsidies for electric vehicles. The government also decided to significantly increase electric vehicle charging facilities. In 2025, it plans to expand chargers to more than 500,000 units, which is the level of more than 50% of the number of electric vehicles supplied. The supply of ultra-fast chargers that can travel 300km with a 20-minute charge is also in full swing. In the case of hydrogen cars, 450 units will be built by 2025 to reach charging stations anywhere in the country within 30 minutes. It is planned to be concentrated in Seoul and the metropolitan area, where charging stations are insufficient compared to vehicles. Prime Minister Jung said, “We will expand support necessary for R&D of dedicated platforms, localization of parts, and lease of batteries and fuel cells so that eco-friendly vehicles can be competitive in terms of performance and price.” We will focus our capabilities on realizing the eco-friendly car industry ecosystem, including supporting business reorganization of primary and secondary suppliers.”
[서진우 기자 / 오찬종 기자]
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