While the expansion of domestic electric vehicle sales has slowed, the popularity of eco-friendly hybrid ( HEV ) vehicles is increasing day by day. While the waiting list for major HEV models from Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors is so long that it will take over a year to ship if ordered this month, electric vehicles can be shipped within a month.
Looking at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia’s September delivery schedule for major vehicle models on the 5th, popular HEV models such as Hyundai Motor Company’s Avante and Kia Sorento will have to wait more than a year for shipment. It takes 11 months for the Hyundai Sonata HEV and 7 months for the Tucson HEV to be delivered. To receive a Kia Sportage HEV , you must wait 6 months. On the other hand , electric vehicle models such as
Hyundai Ioniq 5·6 and Kia EV6 take at most one month to be shipped. The EV6 , the Kia brand’s best-selling electric vehicle , takes 4 to 5 weeks to be shipped, and the relatively new EV9 takes about 3 to 4 months to ship.
This phenomenon of HEV preference is clearly visible in domestic sales until August of this year. Hyundai Motor Company sold 84,665 HEV vehicles in Korea between January and August, a 118% increase compared to the same period last year. During the same period, electric vehicles sold 46,508 units, an 8% increase. This year, while HEV sales increased 118% compared to the previous year, electric vehicle sales increased only 8%. The same goes for Kia, which sells more
HEVs than Hyundai Motors. Kia sold 91,879 units in Korea between January and August this year, an 11% increase over the previous year. During the same period, electric vehicle sales amounted to 34,756 units, which was similar to last year (1.5% increase).
Monthly electric vehicle sales of both Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors began to decline year-on-year starting in July. The exhaustion of electric vehicle subsidies from the government and local governments is also occurring more slowly than in previous years. As the supply of electric passenger vehicles was not exhausted in the first half of this year, the city of Seoul decided to provide subsidies for 10,000 vehicles by combining the first and second halves. Due to this atmosphere, it is predicted that electric vehicle sales will not be easy in the second half of this year.
On the other hand, there are no HEV vehicles, so they cannot be sold. As of this month, the best-selling HEV models were Hyundai Grandeur, Kia Sorento, Kia Sportage, Kia K8 , and Hyundai Tucson. An industry insider pointed out that more than half of the pre-orders for the recently released new Santa Fe are for the HEV model.
The reason HEV is popular is because it is perceived as an alternative during the transition period to electric vehicles. In a situation where electric vehicle infrastructure is not sufficiently secured, HEV is an option that allows you to enjoy the benefits of an eco-friendly vehicle without worrying about charging.
In addition, HEV has secured price competitiveness 토토사이트compared to electric vehicles. Looking at Hyundai’s compact sports utility vehicle ( SUV ), the starting price of the Kona gasoline model is 24.86 million won and the HEV is 29.99 million won. The HEV model is 1.2 times cheaper than the general internal combustion engine model even without subsidies.
On the other hand, the starting price of electric vehicles is 44.52 million won, which is 1.7 times that of internal combustion engines. It is expensive at about 20 million won. Of course, considering the subsidy for an electric car, you can buy it for around 30 million won, but you still have to pay about 10 million won more than an internal combustion engine car. An increasing number of people are choosing HEVs considering the complex subsidy payment process, the stress of charging electric vehicles, and the possibility of future increases in electric vehicle charging fees .
Cho Cheol, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, said, “With the global electric vehicle subsidy reduction process, HEV sales can increase at any time.” He also added, “In addition, since it may become popular in places where charging infrastructure is not sufficient, such as developing countries, HEVs can become an alternative to internal combustion engines.” “It will remain for some time in a different form,” he said.