A driver charges his electric vehicle in a fast-charging station in southeastern Seoul on Jan. 21, 2021, in this photo provided by Hyundai Motor Co.
SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Electric vehicle (EV) charging is not easy in South Korea’s densely packed metropolitan areas, data showed Thursday.
The southern port city of Busan ranked first in terms of the ratio of electric vehicles per fast charger with 29.4 units among major cities in South Korea, According to the data from the Korea Power Exchange analyzed by local startup Soft Berry, operator of EV charging information app.
Other major cities such as Seoul, Incheon and Daejeon also exceeded the level of 20 units, indicating that competition for EV charging is fierce.
An analysis of the number of charging stations with multiple chargers in Seoul by district showed that Seocho, Gangnam and Gangseo districts had more than 200 charging stations with more than two chargers.
In contrast, Gangbuk, Gwanak, Jongno, Gwangjin and Dobong districts had fewer than 100 charging stations.
Among the nation’s metro areas, Gyeonggi Province ranked first in terms of the number of installed EV chargers with 18,610, while Sejong ranked at the bottom with 814.
The number of EV chargers across the country shot up from about 2,000 units in 2016 to more than 70,000 units, indicating that the nation’s overall EV charging infrastructure was greatly improved within a relatively short period of time.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
