This year, the government has decided to pay government subsidies to 20,000 electric cars, but all of the subsidies are expected to move in the first half.

More than 10,000 people have already signed contracts with Hyundai Motor Corp. and Electric, and the limited quantity of the GMVolts EV 5000 in Korea has been sold in three hours in advance.

Besides, Kia Motors is expected to launch the NILO EV in the near future, and if the existing electric car model is added, more than 20,000 EVs are expected to be sold in the first half.

The Ministry of Environment plans to pay subsidies in the order that the vehicles are shipped and registered. As a result, automakers are expected to compete with each other to produce electric cars first. In the non-shipbuilding competition, the industry has pointed out that the government has not predicted the recent increase in demand for electric cars and that it misstated the number of vehicles to be subsidized. The government said it plans to supply 350,000 electric cars by 2022. However, the number of electric cars registered by last year is only 25,010, and even if it adds 20,000 this year, it is only about 45,000 cars. If you do not increase your subsidy, you will not be able to meet your target supply at this time. The government is considering introducing a mandatory sales system that annually allocates quotas for eco-friendly cars to automakers instead of subsidies.

On the other hand, according to Hyundai Motor Company and GM Korea, on January 23, pre-contracts of electric cars to be released by these companies have already exceeded the target in the first half of this year.

Hyundai Motor has set Kona Electric`s sales target at 12,000 units this year, but it is estimated that more than 10,000 people will be pre-contracted.

Korea GM also sold all of its Bolt EVs, which have secured 5,000 units this year. Even though contract execution date was slower than originally planned due to company computer processing problem, 5,000 units went into service within 3 hours of pre-contract.

Once Kia prepares for the first half of the year in addition to the pre-contract amount received from the two companies, the government`s electric vehicle supply target is close to 20,000 units this year.

Currently, Kona Electric and Bolt alone account for 75% of the Ministry of Environment Electric Vehicle Supply Target 20,000. In addition, Kia Motors` sales of Nico EV are about 4,000 to 5,000 units this year. The addition of the existing commercial Hyundai Ionic Electric, Kia Motors Soul EV, Renault Samsung SM3 Z.E and Twiji, is expected to exceed 20,000 units this year.

It is difficult for ordinary consumers to buy electric cars that are more expensive than ordinary cars unless state subsidies and local government subsidies are provided. As a result, the competition for carmakers to attract subsidies for electric vehicles is expected to intensify. An electric vehicle subsidy is made when you sign a contract to purchase a vehicle and you receive a vehicle shipment within two months of submitting your application for purchase of an electric car. If you do not receive a vehicle within this period, you will be excluded from the subsidy or be subordinated. Therefore, even if a vehicle that has been pushed out of the vehicle waiting date is reserved for the first time, a consumer who purchases an electric car with a shorter waiting time than the waiting time can receive the subsidy first. In the worst case, the subsidy budget may be too low to receive a subsidy, and you may have to buy a vehicle at a price.

In September last year, the government revealed that it would supply 250,000 electric vehicles by 2020 and 350,000 units by 2022, as announced by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. By 2022, the number of electric cars to be distributed over four years is only about 220,000. It is supposed to supply 70,000 units every year. At present, it is impossible to fill the target amount with the subsidy payment method. An official from the Ministry of Environment said, "It is better to set the target of electric car supply higher." However, "Currently, we have no choice but to decide the number of subsidies according to the government budget."

By Kim Yang Hyuk mj@


[ copyright ⓒ The Digitaltimes ]