Seoul City Surpasses 76,000 Electric Cars and Electric Two-Wheelers

Electric taxis supplied at 2,870 units, 4.8 times more than in 2021

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it has supplied approximately 45,000 electric vehicles (including two-wheelers) over the past two years, achieving about 1.5 times the cumulative number supplied by 2020. This year alone, about 24,000 electric vehicles were supplied, accounting for 46% of the total number supplied up to last year (52,427 units).

According to statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as of the end of November, the number of registered electric vehicles and electric two-wheelers in Seoul exceeded 70,000, reaching 70,726 units. The registration rate of electric vehicles was 2%, higher than the national average of 1.6%.

The city focused on converting public transportation and freight vehicles, which have long driving distances and are closely related to citizens' daily lives, to electric vehicles this year. For electric taxis, the personal taxi quota was lifted, and subsidies of up to 12 million KRW, which is 3 million KRW more than for regular passenger cars, were provided, resulting in the supply of 2,870 units. This is about 4.8 times the 601 electric taxis supplied last year.

For electric freight vehicles, 2,747 units were supplied, exceeding the initial target of 2,400 units by about 14%, and 202 diesel delivery vehicles, which emit a large amount of air pollutants, were replaced with electric freight vehicles.

Amid the surge in delivery demand due to COVID-19 and non-face-to-face consumption, the city signed business agreements with franchise stores, delivery-specialized companies, and the Korea Electric Two-Wheeler Delivery Rider Association to supply about 3,200 electric two-wheelers.

Additionally, under the principle of accompanying the vulnerable, various additional support measures were prepared to ensure that national merit recipients, persons with disabilities, low-income groups, and multi-child families are not excluded from electric vehicle supply.

Meanwhile, to create a convenient charging environment, a prerequisite for expanding electric vehicles, the city installed a cumulative total of about 42,000 charging stations by this year, securing charging capacity for 180,000 electric vehicles.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Head of the Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, “The most effective solution for the transportation sector, which accounts for 19.2% of Seoul’s greenhouse gas emissions, is the expansion of electric vehicles. If 400,000 electric vehicles are supplied by 2026, Seoul will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 740,000 tons annually. We will strive to supply at least the same level as this year next year as well.”

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