Seoul City to Distribute 500 Hydrogen Cars This Year... Operating 11 Charging Stations

Purchase a Hydrogen Car Worth About 70 Million KRW at Half Price... Purchase Subsidy of 32.5 Million KRW Provided
Individuals Can Apply for 1 Vehicle Each, While Sole Proprietors, Corporations, and Organizations Can Apply for Up to 20 Vehicles Per Entity

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 6th that it will invest 16.3 billion KRW this year to distribute 500 hydrogen passenger cars. The goal is to reduce fine dust and greenhouse gases in downtown Seoul alongside the promotion of electric vehicles.

Seoul plans to provide a subsidy of 32.5 million KRW to hydrogen car buyers, allowing purchasers to buy hydrogen cars priced around 70 million KRW at half price. Applications can be submitted starting from the 15th through the Ministry of Environment’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Purchase Subsidy Support System.

In particular, starting this year, all application documents can be submitted through the subsidy payment system, improving the application process and eliminating the previous inconvenience of having to submit original purchase support documents directly to Seoul City.

When purchasing a hydrogen car, in addition to the 32.5 million KRW purchase subsidy, various benefits are provided such as tax reductions up to 6.6 million KRW, discounts on public parking fees and highway tolls, and exemption from congestion tolls at Namsan Tunnel. Buyers can receive tax benefits up to 6.6 million KRW, including 4 million KRW individual consumption tax, 1.2 million KRW local education tax, and 1.4 million KRW acquisition tax. For Seoul public parking lots, there is a 50% discount on parking fees, 50% discount on highway tolls, and exemption from congestion tolls at Namsan Tunnel No. 1 and No. 3.

Meanwhile, Seoul is working to improve convenience for hydrogen car users by expanding hydrogen refueling stations. Currently, Seoul operates a total of five hydrogen refueling stations (Yangjae, Sangam, National Assembly, Gangdong, Magok), including the Magok Eco hydrogen station opened in January. This capacity can serve about 3,000 hydrogen cars, which is sufficient for the 2,443 hydrogen cars registered in Seoul.

Seoul plans to newly build or expand seven hydrogen refueling stations this year, operating a total of 11 stations by the end of the year. It is expected that this will secure refueling capacity for about 6,000 hydrogen cars.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Director of the Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, “Seoul will strive to make it more convenient for citizens to use hydrogen cars by expanding zero-emission hydrogen car distribution, which is effective in reducing fine dust and greenhouse gases, along with the opening of the Seosomun Government Complex hydrogen refueling station.” He added, “We ask for the active interest of citizens in the distribution of hydrogen cars.”

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