The Rolls-Royce Spectre, the brand’s first electric vehicle, was the most expensive at 622 million won. (Image courtesy of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars)
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) –A recent report has highlighted a significant price disparity between imported and domestic electric vehicles (EVs) in South Korea, with imported models costing more than double on average.
The study, conducted by the Korea Automobile Mobility Industry Association (KAMA) and the Korea Imported Automobile Association (KAIDA), also revealed that the variety of available imported EV models is nearly four times greater than that of domestic ones.
As of December last year, the average starting price for the 14 domestic electric car models was estimated at 57.84 million won. The Kia Ray EV, at 27.35 million won, was the most affordable, whereas the Genesis G80 Electrified model topped the chart at 83.92 million won.
The EV9, a large sport utility vehicle (SUV), emerged as the most registered domestic electric car in December last year and January this year (Image courtesy of Kia)
Notably, none of the domestic electric car models exceeded the 100 million won price point.
The EV9, a large sport utility vehicle (SUV), emerged as the most registered domestic electric car in December last year and January this year, with 2,371 and 789 units respectively.
The EV9′s popularity is attributed to its combination of SUV characteristics, spaciousness, and the practicality of an electric vehicle, with a price tag of 73.37 million won.
However, a significant drop in January registrations was observed, likely due to delays in the announcement of government EV subsidies.
On the other hand, the average price of imported electric vehicles (excluding Tesla) was calculated to be approximately 2.4 times higher than that of their domestic counterparts, with an average price of 131.5 million won for the 55 models available as of December last year.
The Rolls-Royce Spectre, the brand’s first electric vehicle, was the most expensive at 622 million won, followed by luxury models like the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, BMW i7 M70 xDrive, and Mercedes-Benz EQS 53 4MATIC+, with the least expensive imported EV being the Chevrolet Bolt EV at 44.3 million won.
Moreover, over half of the imported EV models were priced above 100 million won. The BMW i5 eDrive40 led the imported electric car registrations with 474 units in December and 181 units in January, priced at 96.9 million won.
This model has been well-received in the South Korean market, praised for its brand recognition, advanced driver assistance systems, and dynamic driving performance.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
