Public Parking Lots as Electric Vehicle Charging Hubs... Seoul City to Install 592 Additional Chargers by First Half of Next Year

Establishment and Implementation of Additional Electric Vehicle Charger Distribution Plan
Support for Installation of 261 Fast Chargers and 331 Slow Chargers in 25 Districts... Scheduled for Completion by First Half of 2022

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will invest 12.1 billion KRW to install an additional 592 electric vehicle chargers at major public parking lots in the city by the first half of next year.

On the 1st, Seoul announced that it has established and will implement a plan to expand electric vehicle chargers based on this core content. The goal is to proactively respond to the increasing demand for charging by turning public parking lots with high accessibility for citizens into electric vehicle charging hubs.

The main installation locations include Munjeong Neighborhood Park Public Parking Lot (Songpa-gu), Susaek-dong Public Parking Lot (Eunpyeong-gu), Hong Eun 2-dong 3rd Public Parking Lot (Seodaemun-gu), Dongjak Gaetmaeul Public Parking Lot (Dongjak-gu), among 208 sites. According to related ordinances, parking fees will be waived for one hour when nearby residents, as well as cargo trucks and private taxis using public parking lots, use the electric vehicle chargers within the public parking lots.

Additionally, Seoul plans to actively build a 5-minute charging network within residential areas, aiming to supply 270,000 electric vehicles and 200,000 chargers by 2025. If the target of installing 12,000 chargers this year is met, a total of 20,000 chargers will be established within Seoul by the end of the year. This capacity can accommodate 100,000 electric vehicles.

The 592 chargers to be installed this time consist of 261 rapid chargers and 331 slow chargers, with more than 40% planned as rapid charging facilities. There are a total of 328 public parking lots with 50 or more spaces owned and managed by autonomous districts (41,312 spaces), where 349 rapid and slow chargers are currently installed. To ensure that transportation-vulnerable groups can use the chargers without significant inconvenience, the city plans to install at least one ‘convenience-providing’ charger per parking lot in cooperation with the districts. These chargers will consider accessibility by widening the narrow space between the charger and parking space, allowing wheelchair users to enter comfortably, and adjusting the charger screen and handles to heights easily reachable by wheelchair users, thereby enhancing convenience.

Furthermore, Seoul will provide subsidies to 39 bus company garages operating electric buses in the city and village bus sectors to support the installation of a total of 98 rapid chargers for electric buses. The goal is to complete installation by the end of this year with 81 chargers for city buses and 17 for village buses. Charger installation sites include 24 city bus garages such as Boseong Transport (Guro-dong, Guro-gu) and Seoul Seunghap (Gangil-dong, Gangdong-gu), and 15 village bus garages such as Insu Transport (Suyu-dong, Gangbuk-gu) and Boramae Transport (Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu).

Seoul explained, "Starting with the electric bus charger support project, we plan to support the distribution of rapid chargers at taxi garages, cargo logistics centers, and other locations to continuously encourage the transition of commercial vehicles, which have long driving distances and are closely connected to citizens' lives, to electric vehicles."

Meanwhile, to spread the perception of ‘Eco-friendly Electric Vehicle City Seoul,’ the city developed the Seoul-style electric vehicle and charger brand ‘Jeongi-charo Deo Malgeun Seoul’ (Clearer Seoul with Electric Vehicles). It will be used in various ways such as public electric vehicle distribution and electric vehicle charging station signboards.

Yoo Yeon-sik, head of the Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, “For the transition to the electric vehicle era, it is important to proactively establish charging facilities that make electric vehicles convenient to use. We will build a customized charging infrastructure by location and vehicle type that citizens can use conveniently, eliminate blind spots in electric vehicle charging, and lead the popularization of electric vehicles to take a step closer to responding to the climate crisis.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.