[Courtesy of Hyundai Motor]
SEOUL -- The Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), a state electricity company, will support the operators of small electric vehicle charging service stations with a cloud-based management system to boost the expansion of charging infrastructure for eco-friendly cars.
The environment ministry said in December last year that it will deploy about 20,000 public electric vehicle chargers including some 1,500 fast chargers in 2020. The ministry will ease regulations so that anyone can participate in EV charging services to create a solid market ecosystem.
KEPCO said in a statement on Wednesday that it will provide a cloud-based one-stop EV charging service station management system that includes features such as payment, customer management, service webpage and operating application. The service will be provided at about 10 percent of the cost required for individual operators.
The move is aimed at easing the financial burden of EV charging station operators. The high cost has hindered new business operators from entering the market that is considered to be a blue ocean in South Korea. Currently, there are about 40,470 EV chargers.
Chargers are normally set up in parking lots. Many stations operate one or two chargers. KINTEX, an exhibition and expo complex nested inside a new town northwest of Seoul, set up 10 EV chargers at its parking lot in February for visitors and residents of apartment complexes nearby.
The Hyundai auto group is renovating mega-sized gas stations into EV charging stations. It plans to open an EV charging station with eight ultra-fast chargers in a remodeled gas station in eastern Seoul this year.
Hyundai's ultra-fast chargers can charge power, enough for an ordinary EV to travel 100 kilometers (62 miles), in three minutes while it takes five minutes to charge power for a travel of up to 200 kilometers. The largest EV charging service station is operated by American EV company Tesla on the southern resort island of Jeju.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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