Why eco-friendly vehicles are in need? How does Gyeonggi-do encourage the purchase of eco-friendly vehicles?
Introducing Eco-Friendly Vehicles
Eco-friendly vehicles use clean energy and emit less pollutants than conventional vehicles with internal combustion engines. Only by reducing the use of fossil fuels and satisfying pollution-free and low pollution standards can vehicles be recognized as eco-friendly. Prime examples include hybrid, electric, and hydrogen vehicles. Other types of eco-friendly vehicles include those that are powered by solar energy, natural gas, and clean diesel as described by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy per the "Act on the Promotion of the Development and Distribution of Environmentally Friendly Vehicles." Types and Features of Eco-friendly Vehicles
An electric vehicle uses energy from primarily sustainable sources, with a hybrid vehicle being powered by a combination of fuel and electricity as defined by the related ordinances of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, including those that utilize gasoline, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas, and natural gas.The advantage of electric vehicles is that they are cheap to power and do not require additional motive technologies other than those pertaining to batteries and motors. They also have the advantage of emitting fewer (or even zero) air pollutants and greenhouse gases. The disadvantages, however, primarily revolve around the battery – including price, weight, charging time – and stability issues; moreover, the more electronic devices integrated into a vehicle, the less stable the electricity supply becomes. The maximum mileage for most electric vehicles is approximately 400km at room temperature, but this falls to 120km at lower temperatures.
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| An air quality monitor in Seongnam City ⓒGyeonggi Province |
Electric vehicles are defined as “zero emission” vehicles under the Air Conservation Act. Based on law, the government is reviewing obligatory eco-friendly vehicle sale and cooperative payment systems. However, some have pointed out that indirect emissions from electric vehicle production have been overlooked. In addition, studies have shown that, like internal combustion vehicles, brake pad and tire abrasion on electric vehicles stills result in siginificant levels of fine dust generation.
Hydrogen vehicles are divided into two main categories: hydrogen fuel vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Hybrid vehicles are hydrogen-fueled vehicles that use engines similar to those of gasoline-fueled vehicles. Such vehicles can be driven distances of up to 600km and be fully recharged within approximately 5 minutes. The downside includes the current lack of charging stations and the high cost of purchasing such vehicles.
The advantage of hybrid vehicles, on the other hand, is the fast acceleration due to the power source. Such vehicles also have the advantage of fuel efficiency because the engines and electric motors stop when the vehicle is not moving, thus avoiding the waste of fuel while idling. Moreover, these vehicles are much quieter because the electric motor only runs during acceleration and at low speeds. The disadvantages of hybrid vehicles include the fact that they are not completely pollution-free because they do use small amounts of gasoline or diesel, and thus still generate emissions, and that their popularization is still difficult to due to high production costs.
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| Gyeonggi Province encourages eco-friendly car buyers by providing up to KRW 14 million per car and KRW 128 million per bus in subsidies |
Governmental Support for Eco-friendly Vehicles
Gyeonggi Province will provide a total of KRW 441.4 billion in subsidies to encourage the purchase of pollution-free vehicles such as electric vehicles and hydrogen cars this year. Depending on vehicle performance, such as mileage, up to KRW 14 million per car and KRW 128 million per bus will be subsidized for 11,381 electric cars and 500 buses. Concurrently, for 3,700 cars and 10 buses using hydrogen, up to KRW 32.5 million won per car and up to KRW 300 million per bus will be subsidized.In addition, Gyeonggi will provide an additional KRW 2 million per car if one scraps an old diesel car (Grade 5) and purchases an electric or hydrogen car. If one wants to purchase a pollution-free car, one can visit a nearby car dealer. Details such as the unit price and available governmental subsidies for each car can be found on city/county websites.
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