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These days, more and more people are riding Tesla, an American electric vehicle, in Korea. Some Tesla is a little lower than the previous model, but there is also an analysis that it is due to the subsidies that our government gives to electric vehicles.

For more information, reporter Kim Hye-min will tell.

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Kim Ji-seok, 45, who recently bought a Tesla Model 3 in the United States after driving a domestic electric car for three years.

There was a perception that it was difficult to charge due to the high price burden, but it was a response that it was satisfactory.

[Kim Ji-seok/Gunpo-si, Gyeonggi-do: On the surface, it's only expensive, and why you want to buy it, but if you experience it, it's a little different.]

Tesla, which had been neglected in the Korean market until last year, was different this year.

While Tesla's Model 3, released in the first half of this year, sold more than 6,800 units in Korea, sales of Hyundai's Kona and Kia's Niro have decreased compared to last year.

Tesla Model 3 sells better than its predecessors because of its relatively low price and subsidies of over 10 million won.

Tesla buyers received more than 100 billion won in subsidies in the first half of this year, and complaints were raised that American electric vehicles would wipe out the taxes paid by the people.

However, the amount of subsidies paid to domestic cars is not much different.

[Lee Min-woo/Director of the Ministry of Industry and Automotive Affairs of the Ministry of Industry: Any claim to differentially subsidize electric vehicles for domestic cars and imported cars may be subject to import substitution subsidies prohibited by the WTO, so it needs to be carefully reviewed.]

There is a bubble in technology . The domestic industry is also tense with the progress of the American electric car.

The key is the competitiveness of the product itself beyond the price.

[Kim Pil-soo/Professor of Daelim University, Department of Automotive Engineering: (Consumers) As a whole, they choose cars with comprehensive parts such as luxury, price, fuel economy, and innovation icons. .]

From the beginning of next year when a new model of a domestic electric vehicle is scheduled to be released, it is expected that the competition for the Korean market will be inevitable.

(Video coverage: Park Dae-young, Video editing: Park Ji-in, VJ: Min-gu Jung)