![Over 35 percent of taxis in Korea are now EVs - Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 lead 01]()
There were 20,296 newly registered taxis that went into service in Korea between January to July 2022, according to data from Korea’s Ministry of Transport, extracted by carisyou.com. Of the total, 36.4 percent (7,394 units) were battery electric vehicles (BEVs, or battery EVs).
This is a sharp increase from the 1,029 units of electric taxis registered in the whole of 2019.
Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 is the most popular EV taxi there, with 3,453 units registered in the first 7 months of 2022. This is followed by the Ioniq 5’s sister-car the Kia EV6, with 2,434 units.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/22557728108/my_article_fourthp_under_pc', [
728,
90
], 'div-gpt-ad-1685525140735-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1685525140735-0'); });
![Over 35 percent of taxis in Korea are now EVs - Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 lead 01]()
Both the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 are built on the same E-GMP electric drive-only modular platform. It supports both 400V and 800V fast charging architecture. It is also one of the few EV platforms to offer V2L reverse power output, meaning that the car will serve as a giant battery to power any household electrical device, delivering up to 3.6 kW – enough to power a large screen TV for 24 hours.
The third most popular electric taxi is the Kia Niro EV, with 1,702 units.
![Over 35 percent of taxis in Korea are now EVs - Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 lead 02]()
Two units of Genesis G80 and 1 unit of Genesis GV70 were also registered as premium taxis, rounding up the top 5 most popular EV taxis in Korea.
Among the reasons for the increase in uptake of electric taxis in Korea is longer driving range of recent EV models. The average daily driving distance of a taxi in Seoul is around 300 km, a distance that all the models mentioned above can easily cover.
Reduced maintenance cost and zero fuel cost are also other motivating factors.
![Over 35 percent of taxis in Korea are now EVs - Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 lead 03]()
The data also shows that majority of EV taxis - 86.8 percent of it – are owned privately, by individual taxi drivers.
This makes sense as company-owned taxis often operate close to 20 hours daily, split between day and night shift drivers. Taxi companies still overwhelmingly prefer fuss-free refueling combustion engine models like a Hyundai Sonata or a Kia K5.
The Korean government is offering a 2 million Korean Won (~RM 6,700) incentive for every electric taxi purchase.
Over 15 years of experience in automotive, from product planning, to market research, to print and digital media. Garages a 6-cylinder manual RWD but buses to work.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/22557728108/my_article_relatedmodel_above_pc', [
728,
90
], 'div-gpt-ad-1685525247138-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1685525247138-0'); });
