<Anchor> Although the
domestic electric vehicle market is growing by more than 60% every year and the number of people using electric vehicles is increasing, charging facilities are still insufficient. To solve this problem, the government has come up with a plan to install 500,000 chargers across the country, and large companies are also jumping into the charging market.
Correspondent Han Sang-woo.
<Reporter>
A large commercial facility in Seoul.
At the same time, the largest electric vehicle charging station in Korea that can quickly charge 23 units was opened.
As the number of electric vehicles increases, the number of visitors to charging facilities is increasing rapidly.
However, our charging infrastructure is still insufficient.
For every 100 electric vehicles, 185 chargers have been installed in the US, 318 in the UK, and 153 in Japan, but only 25 in Korea.
The lack of charging facilities is holding back the spread of electric vehicles.
[Electric vehicle user: It is very difficult. It cannot be charged right away.] As the
government launched a plan to install 500,000 chargers across the country and started to expand the charging infrastructure, large corporations also started to jump into the charging market, where about 10 operators, including KEPCO, competed.
Refinery companies such as SK and GS have expanded their infrastructure by using existing gas stations.
[Energy industry official: Companies that have all gas station infrastructure are reviewing that too. I'm looking at it in a variety of ways.]
Distributors are installing charging facilities in parking lots so that EV owners can shop while charging at hypermarkets.
Automakers such as Hyundai Motor Company are paying attention to the installation of fast charging, which can be charged to 80% or more in 10 minutes or less, such as at highway rest stops.
It is good that the speed of supply of charging facilities is getting faster, but there are already concerns whether this market is subordinated to large companies.
(Video editing: Park Jin-hoon)