For GM’s all-electric future plans, 500 Korean engineers are currently working on global EV programs with the Ultium platform, and the number will be doubled to engage with GM’s future mobility technologies.
South Korea has a 40.6 trillion won ($41.2 billion) plan to become an even bigger EV battery giant by the end of the decade, The Business Times has reported. The nation unveiled the plan and noted that LG Energy Solution, SK Innovation, and Samsung SDI will be key players. (They … [continued]
The Korea Times, a major newspaper in Korea, reports that a joint venture between LG Electronics and Magna International is “very near” a contract with Apple to manufacture electric vehicles for the computer and smartphone giant. LG Electronics has worked with automakers for ages to supply big portions of their … [continued]
South Korea is increasing its commitment to cleantech — specifically, in this case, renewable energy — with new plans for the next 13 or 14 years.
Hyundai has convinced the South Korean government, if no other government, that hydrogen is a big part of the future. They’ll spend a bunch of money failing to realize that future.
Even with the overall automotive market back in the dog house (-20% in August), plugin sales continue to be immune to the surrounding doom and gloom, with plugin hybrids (PHEVs) up 269%, to 5,266 units, faring better than fully electric vehicles (BEVs), which were up only 167%, to 5,590 registrations, allowing plugin hybrids to have 49% of the plugin market last month, above this year’s average (35%) and quite possibly the highest share ever by plugin hybrids in this traditionally BEV-friendly market.
Two models — the Tesla Model 3 (31%) and Hyundai Kona EV (23%) — account for 54% of the Korean EV market, according to EV Volumes. While Europe has dozens of electric vehicle models on the market (thank you, EU leadership), South Korea, like the US (especially outside of California), is a wasteland.
Yahoo! Japan reported that other than China, Tesla may be considering gigafactory plans at sites in either Japan or South Korea. The article noted that Elon Musk was asked on Twitter about plans to build a new plant in Asia outside of China. “Yeah, but first we need to finish Giga Berlin and a second US Giga to serve the eastern half of North America,” was Elon Musk’s reply.
South Korea has caught Tesla fever, with tech-savvy professionals following the shipping routes of their long-awaited vehicles.
Tesla dominates imported EV sales in South Korea, according to The Korea Bizwire. Even though South Korea has it’s own Korean-made EVs, which are indeed popular, Tesla is all the rage.
