Electric Cars and Electric Bicycles... Switching Due to Soaring Gas Prices

3-Hour Commute Cost Reduced from 30,000 Won to 9,800 Won
Taxis Switch from LPG to Electric Cars
Short Distances Commuted by Electric Bicycle

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Office worker Mr. Park (41) recently purchased a used electric car. He used to commute for 3 hours round-trip in a gasoline vehicle, but switched to an electric car due to soaring fuel prices. Commuting 200 km daily with gasoline costs 32,748 won at last month's peak price (2,145 won per liter). However, after switching to an electric car, his daily fuel cost dropped to 9,800 won based on fast charging rates (309.1 won per kWh). Mr. Park said, "I think many people will become interested in electric cars due to this high oil price situation."

Mr. Song (72), who works as a taxi driver, also recently signed a contract for an electric car and is just waiting for the new car to arrive early next year. The reason he decided to switch vehicles was the LPG price. He said, "Until a year ago, LPG prices were in the 900 won per liter range, but they started to surge at the end of last year and rose to the 1,100 won range earlier this year. As someone who makes a living with a vehicle, fuel costs have a big impact on my income." Mr. Song added that not only himself but also other taxi drivers around him are switching to electric cars, saying, "With subsidies available and maintenance costs lower than regular vehicles, more people are switching."

Office worker Mr. Lee (28) commutes to a company 30 minutes away by public transportation or private car, but now uses an electric bicycle. Recently, due to high oil prices, he looked for alternative transportation and decided to purchase an electric bicycle after seeing one passing by on the street. Mr. Lee said, "Because of the high oil prices, it felt wasteful to drive a private car, but taking crowded public transportation was also burdensome. The battery is removable so I can charge it at home, and it coincided with a time when I was thinking about the environment."

Professor Eunhee Lee of Inha University’s Department of Consumer Studies said, "From an environmental perspective, moving toward electric vehicles is the right direction, but consumers have hesitated to switch due to concerns about expenses." She added, "From the consumer’s point of view, it is convenient to continue using internal combustion engine vehicles as before, but with the increasing burden of high oil prices, it seems to be a time when people are considering switching to electric cars due to cost considerations."

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