Gwangju City Secures 10 Billion KRW for Key Component Development in Future Vehicle Transition Project

Selected for the 'EV Gukmin Kyungcha Commercialization Support Platform Construction Project' Competition

Gwangju Metropolitan City, which succeeded in attracting the 1 million-pyeong Future Car National Industrial Complex, has secured 10 billion KRW in national funding for the development of core electric vehicle components to support the transition to future cars.

Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kang Gi-jung) announced on the 20th that it was finally selected for the Ministry of Industry's new national funding project in 2023, the ‘EV National Compact Car Commercialization Support Platform Construction Project’.

This competition was promoted to strengthen support for local parts companies as the future car market, including domestic and international electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, is rapidly growing, and the development of lightweight yet high-strength body and chassis is essential for electric-powered compact cars.

The city will invest a total project cost of 14.5 billion KRW (national and city funds) over five years starting this year to build infrastructure for developing electric-powered compact cars (EV National Compact Cars) and to strengthen the capabilities of local automotive parts companies.

The plan includes developing technology to miniaturize (reduce weight of) high-output drive motors for compact EV vehicles, as well as developing high-strength battery protection technology to improve the safety of compact cars, securing the economy and safety of electric-powered compact cars, and actively supporting local automotive parts companies struggling with the transition to future cars to pioneer new markets.

The city will begin full-scale operations from May by signing business agreements with related institutions and companies. It will also recruit ‘participating companies’ targeting compact electric vehicle manufacturers and companies developing electric vehicle-exclusive and shared parts.

In particular, automotive-related companies, which account for 43% of Gwangju’s manufacturing industry, are quickly preparing for the transition from conventional internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles.

In fact, ‘PTG,’ a Gwangju future car transition automotive parts company that developed Korea’s first high-performance in-wheel motor (a drive motor installed inside the wheel) exclusively for electric vehicles, is expanding its production facilities by completing a 3,800-pyeong factory in the Pyeongdong Industrial Complex.

Until 2020, the compact car market had been declining, but demand for compact cars has steadily increased due to the release of models such as the ‘Casper,’ which added driver convenience features and safety specifications.

The compact car ‘Casper,’ produced by Gwangju Global Motors (GGM), Korea’s first win-win regional job creation company, produced 122,453 units in 2022, a 27% increase compared to the previous year.

Kim Yong-seung, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Bureau, said, “Following the designation of a new national industrial complex exclusively for future cars in the 8th local government term, Gwangju has been selected for the future car parts development competition project, laying the groundwork not only for the development of core future car parts but also for the agglomeration of companies.” He added, “In particular, it is expected to serve as a catalyst for Gwangju to leap forward as a leading city in future cars in response to the global future car transformation.”

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