Currently, electric vehicle subsidies are provided to electric passenger cars, electric two-wheelers, and 1-ton electric trucks.


Of course, like other advanced countries, it is natural that subsidies for electric vehicles will gradually decrease.

As electric vehicles become more cost-effective than internal combustion engine vehicles in many aspects, including price, their competitiveness is increasing, and naturally, subsidies are decreasing.

Of course, along with the electric vehicle chasm, a recent phenomenon in which electric vehicle sales have slowed down, the spread of electric vehicles is expected to be delayed more than expected due to the Trump risk.

The policy is to take the lead in electric vehicles at the national level, to the extent that there is a tentative judgment that domestic electric vehicle subsidies will last longer than in other advanced countries.

The logic is that the domestic market, which is not that large, will secure competitiveness through proven electric vehicles and charging systems through test beds and take the lead in the global market, and that it will also greatly contribute to reducing domestic carbon dioxide emissions through the spread of zero-emission vehicles.

Compared to other advanced countries, the domestic supply of electric vehicles and chargers is not low.

As of the end of last year, the cumulative number of electric vehicles was approximately 700,000. The number of chargers is also quite large, at around 400,000 units.

Of course, the supply of electric vehicles still needs to increase, and since about 87% of chargers are slow chargers, the supply of rapid chargers needs to increase.

In this situation, subsidies for electric vehicles and chargers are of great significance.

The current subsidy issue is a matter of great concern.

They say that they are implementing an invisible policy to protect domestic industries by announcing the changes in subsidy payment standards every year around January or February and implementing them in March.

It is a natural logic and has great significance in properly implementing subsidies that are the people's tax money, but it is important to emphasize that it is important to take wise preemptive measures so that they do not expand into barriers other than trade, as complaints are expressed through overseas missions, etc. about the part where the subsidy payment is changed immediately after the announcement without prior notice.

In order to prepare, it would be wise to announce the framework at least 6 months in advance.

As expected, the most important subsidy payment criteria are focused on domestically produced electric vehicles and chargers.

In other words, in terms of activating domestic related industries, this is a standard that naturally provides subsidy payment criteria when domestic manufacturers produce electric vehicles, thereby helping to activate distribution.

I would like to emphasize that since the subsidy itself was built on this basis, it is natural logic and the role of the department in charge is to provide active assistance.

However, in the case of the mid-sized electric truck that the domestic commercial vehicle manufacturer Tata Daewoo has been developing for several years and is currently in mass production, there is no consideration at all for subsidies.

As mentioned earlier, the subsidy for 1-ton electric trucks is excessive at around 35 million won, despite its many shortcomings, but it is not enough. There are no subsidies for electric trucks.

The number of 1-ton electric trucks distributed in this way exceeds 130,000 units, accounting for about 20% of the total.

Of course, until now there were no electric trucks over 1 ton, so there were no subsidies, but now it is different.

Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles has developed 3.5-ton and 5-ton electric trucks as mass-produced models and are fully ready for distribution, but they are ultimately unable to be released due to subsidy issues.

Although we are aware of this through contact with the Ministry of Environment, which is the competent department, the fact that they have not established criteria for subsidy payment is a significant problem.

Among the various reasons given by the Ministry of Environment, it is stated that the subsidies for medium and large trucks were organized in the direction of development of hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicles, but this is an incorrect judgment.

With the inauguration of this government, the direction of support for existing hydrogen electric vehicles has changed from passenger vehicles to commercial vehicles, mainly toward hydrogen trucks, hydrogen buses, and hydrogen construction equipment.

This is also a part that I emphasized while participating in the decision-making process that took place over approximately three key meetings at the time.

Of course, for mid- to large-sized commercial models, the direction is right for hydrogen electric vehicles, but in the compact truck sector, there is an ambiguous overlapping sector.

Since it will take more time to activate hydrogen electric vehicles after electric vehicles, it can be said that the activation of mid-sized electric trucks is the most appropriate for now.

Electric trucks of this level are technically feasible and environmentally important, so their popularization is essential.

Of course, it can be said that subsidies have an absolute impact on diffusion to the point that sales would be impossible without subsidies.

Therefore, I would like to emphasize that subsidies must be prepared as soon as possible. I hope you know that there are many consumers and local governments waiting for this mid-size electric truck on the front lines.

Moreover, the replacement effect of mid-sized electric trucks is very large, as the exhaust gas pollution source caused by existing diesel trucks is serious.

The environmental improvement effect will be greatly multiplied as the amount of exhaust gas from one aged mid-sized diesel truck is expected to exceed that of 100 passenger cars. Naturally, it is necessary to promote its distribution and provide subsidies as a standard for payment.

Secondly, there is concern that if this area is opened up, Chinese trucks and the like will take over, but I would say that we will take the lead if we prepare properly, even if we give up some of it.

Of course, I would like to mention that the fact that more than half of electric buses are Chinese-made is a failure of our policy.

There is also a reason why we have not properly improved our competitiveness. However, it is not an area where we can impose tariffs and other actions that go against the WTO or FTA, as a weak country based on exports, based on the logic of powerful countries such as the US or China. We can take the lead even if we have to give in to some of it, and subsidies play an important role in this. This is an example of a case where people do not pickle intestines because they are afraid of maggots.

Let me emphasize once again that the subsidy for electric vehicles is a benefit for activating domestic related industries.

Of course, I would like to emphasize that it is logical to provide subsidies for electric vehicles developed domestically and manufactured domestically, including batteries and various core devices.

I hope that they will prepare subsidies for Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle's domestically produced mid-sized electric truck, which is already ready for mass production.

We urge that the budget be prepared in advance as soon as possible, as even if it is prepared in the first half of the year, payment will not be made until next year.

However, Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles is unable to sell the electric truck that has been under development for more than a year.

I hope that the Ministry of Environment will take responsibility and hurry up and prepare it. Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles will also have to visit the Ministry of Environment more often to persuade them more and induce a rational decision.

I would like to emphasize once again that the Ministry of Environment's subsidies for electric vehicles and chargers must be used properly where they are absolutely necessary.

This target should naturally include Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle's compact electric truck.