The Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced on the 23rd that it would reduce the purchase subsidy paid by the government to purchase electric vehicles by 1 million won from 6 million won this year to 5 million won next year. Instead, it has decided to increase the number of electric vehicles eligible for purchase subsidies from 165,000 this year to 215,000 next year by 50,000 (30%).
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance held the ‘2022 Core Business Evaluation Final Report’ on the 23rd and announced the plan. Core business evaluation is conducted every year to check the execution status and business performance of major financial projects in accordance with the National Finance Act and the guidelines for in-depth evaluation of financial projects, and to suggest future directions for financial investment.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance explained that the total amount of subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles for next year will be expanded compared to this year, but the level of support for each electric car will be reduced in consideration of cases from other countries in order to achieve carbon neutrality. Unlike electric passenger cars, the purchase subsidy for electric commercial vehicles such as trucks maintained the subsidy price at 14 to 70 million won per vehicle, the same as this year. It also decided to increase the number of electric commercial vehicles eligible for purchase subsidies from 43,000 this year to 58,000 next year.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance also decided to increase the supply of ultra-fast chargers (including rapid chargers) from 1,200 this year to 2,100 next year to increase charging convenience for electric vehicle consumers. The supply of slow chargers will increase from 37,000 this year to 60,000 next year. As a result of this fiscal adjustment, the government’s budget for expanding the supply of electric vehicles will increase by 485.3 billion won (25.1%) from a total of 1.935.2 trillion won this year to 2.4208 billion won next year.
On the other hand, the government budget used to support hydrogen cars is expected to be reduced by 54.5 billion won (6.1%) from 892.8 billion won this year to 838.3 billion won next year. This is because the unit price of the subsidy for hydrogen cars is maintained at 22.5 million won per vehicle, but the number of cars eligible for support will be reduced from 28,000 to 16,000 this year.
However, the government decided to partially increase the unit price for hydrogen commercial vehicles from 15 million to 72 million won this year to 21 million to 72 million won in order to expand the supply of hydrogen vehicles centered on commercial vehicles. It also decided to increase the number of hydrogen commercial vehicles eligible for support from 350 this year to 920 next year. The installation of hydrogen chargers for commercial vehicles will also increase from 26 this year to 32 next year, but the number of hydrogen chargers for passenger cars will be reduced from 42 this year to 10 next year.
By Jung Eui-jin, staff reporter [email protected]