Korean electric vehicles are rapidly growing in recognition of their competitiveness in the global market.

Although it is still insignificant compared to advanced countries such as the US and Europe, which are leading the global electric car market, it is rapidly emerging as a new growth engine by rapidly expanding exports and market share by expanding production and infrastructure.

According to the trade association and the industry on November 19, Korea`s electric vehicle exports have increased about six times over three years from 2013 until last year. Exports were USD 57.3 million (about USD62.8 billion) in 2013 but in 2016 it increased about 550% to USD 315.5 million. Exports were USD 110 million in the first quarter of this year alone, and exports increased by 117% over the same period last year from January to August.

As a result, Korea`s electric car export ranking has jumped to 8th place in 2005 from 13th in the world in 2013. Worldwide market share also jumped from 4.4 % to 1.7 %.

As of last year, Hyundai and Kia Motors ranked 19th in the global electric car market with 2.1%. However, the gap between the US and Germany was still large. The US exported USD 2.628 billion worth of electric cars last year, seven times more than Korea, and Germany was USD 1.292 billion, four times higher.

The spread of awareness of eco-friendly cars and the increase in production and sales also contributed to the increase in domestic supply. The average annual growth rate of electric cars in Korea for the three years from 2013 to last year was 90.6%, higher than the global growth rate of 82.2%. In the same period, the domestic production volume increased from 22,272 units to 50,205 units by 1.3 times, and the rapid charge infrastructure increased more than twice from 177 to 487.

Meanwhile, the industry is expected to see a dramatic increase in the number of popular and practical electric cars as the countries have been actively promoting the spread of electric cars. In particular, demand for electric cars, which are technically closely connected with the emergence of autonomous vehicles, is expected to increase significantly. However, it is pointed out that it is difficult to take the initiative of the electric car industry with the quantitative growth only in the expansion of the global market. It is pointed out that the government and industry should closely coordinate and aggressively invest in order to catch up with global companies such as Tesla and GM, which are leading the electric car market with advanced investment and technology development.

An industry expert said, "If the trend is accelerated each year, the era of the internal combustion engine will end sooner than expected." As China, which has not been seen in the automobile industry, emerged as the leading electric car company with aggressive investment by the government and companies and it is necessary to have a drastic and innovative electric car industry promotion plan, not an assortment. "


By Choi Yong Soon cys@


[ copyright ⓒ The Digitaltimes ]