Hyundai, Lotte, KB Asset to add 5,000 ultrafast EV chargers in Korea by 2025

[Source: Hyundai Motor Group]

Hyundai Motor Group will collaborate with Lotte Group and KB Asset Management to expand superfast EV charging infrastructure in Korea with the addition of 5,000 units by 2025 to meet the growing population of electric cars in the country.

The three companies on Wednesday agreed to set up a special purpose company, tentatively dubbed UFC (Ultra Fast Charger), to initiate a project to recruit private EV charging station operators and lease them superfast EV chargers for business within this year. More detailed plan will be decided after reviewing business model and detailed operation plan.

Global mobility migration to electric vehicles has picked up speed, but there still is a shortage of EV charging infrastructure. Currently around 100,000 units of charging units are in operation in Korea, with 230,000 units of registered EVs as of 2021, according to the Ministry of Environment.

Given that it takes four to five hours to fully charge an EV, or at least 15-30 minutes with a superfast charging system, the currently available EV chargers are not enough. Plus, nearly 40 percent of all charging stations are situated in Seoul and neighboring large cities, and only 13,000 units are for superfast charging.

The three plan to set up a SPC and then recruit EV charger station operators to install 5,000 ultrafast charging units across the country by 2025. By leasing the chargers, Hyundai Motor expects operators to save installation cost when starting business and ultrafast charging infrastructure to fast spread to major cities.

[Source: Hyundai Motor Group]

Lotte Group will provide its retail facilities such as department stores, big-box stores and shopping malls in major cities as a site to install superfast EV chargers. KB Asset Management will arrange a fund to support the construction of the related infrastructure as a financial investor.

Lotte Group has been active in grooming future mobility business ranging from EV charging infrastructure to self-driving shuttle service and car-sharing platform to speed up establishment of its mobility value chain. Lotte Rental acquired a 13.9 percent stake in the country’s largest car-sharing service provider Socar for 183.2 billion won ($148.3 million) in March this year and invested 25 billion won in autonomous driving startup 42dot in August last year.

Lotte Data Communication last year took over the country’s second-largest EV charging system manufacturer Joongang Control for 69 billion won and expanded its annual capacity to more than 10,000 units from 7,000 units.

Hyundai Motor Group plans to provide various customer services by connecting the EV charger rental business model with its EV charging service platform E-CSP.

“We’ll contribute to the growth of the EV charging business in line with the government’s goal of expanding the use of green cars to lead the industry’s charging ecosystem,” said a group official.

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