SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Group leader Euisun Chung said Tuesday flagship Hyundai Motor and sister company Kia Motors aim to sell 1 million electric vehicles in 2025, together targeting more than 10 percent of global market share of EVs.
Hyundai Motor plans to launch a next-generation electric vehicle with a driving range of 280 miles per charge and charging time of 20 minutes or less, Chung said in a televised video message. It aims to export 1,600 hydrogen-powered trucks to Europe by 2025, and develop a new system that doubles battery life at half the price, he said.
Chung’s statement came as South Korea outlined a plan Tuesday to spend 114.1 trillion won ($94.6 billion) on a “New Deal” to create jobs and help the economy recover from the coronavirus fallout, anchored in part by investment in electric vehicles and hydrogen cars.
The six-year plan will build digital infrastructure and a stronger safety net for job seekers, but its “Green New Deal” aspects have drawn attention as they aim to cut heavy reliance on fossil fuels in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
“The coronavirus pandemic once again reaffirmed the urgency of responses to climate change,” President Moon Jae-in said in a speech, adding that the new projects were expected to create about 1.9 million jobs through 2025.
South Korea aims to have 1.13 million EVs and 200,000 hydrogen cars on the roads by 2025, up from 91,000 and 5,000 each by the end of 2019, Moon said, while the government would add more charging stations for the vehicles.
Last week Seoul said it would invest 2.6 trillion won ($2.2 billion) on its own version of the Green New Deal, and set a 2035 deadline to stop registration of vehicles with internal combustion engines.
It vowed to convert 4,000 of the capital’s fleet of 7,396 public buses to electric or hydrogen power by 2025, and promised more conversion incentives for new taxis.
Seoul also plans 4,000 charging stations for EVs and 65 for hydrogen-powered cars by 2035, up from 1,090 stations for EVs and four for such cars now, said city official W.S. Cho.