Korea pumps RM 1.35b in R&D support for next-gen cars, says it’s urgent

South Korea will increase its support for domestic manufacturers and institutions engaged in R&D of key technologies required by the next generation of connected, electrified, and driverless cars.

Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports that Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has announced that Korea will increase its annual allocation in R&D support to develop the next generation of Korean vehicles by 37 percent, now totaling 367.9 billion Won (RM 1.35 billion).

"It is urgent to make an investment in R&D on next-generation vehicles in a preemptive manner as competition has deepened to secure key technology," Hong said at a meeting on innovative growth.

Hong said the government will focus on supporting R&D of six key technologies crucial to developing next-generation cars, including batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, self-driving communications and automotive chips.

Meanwhile Korean Agency for Technology and Standards has said that it will ramp up its effort to promote a homegrown wireless charging technology for electric vehicles (EVs) as an international standard.

The Korean wireless charging standard is said to work with EVs with a capacity of 50 kW, and will allow such EVs to be charged up to 80 percent within an hour.

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The agency also wants to trial the wireless charging technology on public electric buses. The technology is said to be able to charge EV buses as they drive down a road, thus dramatically increasing their driving range.

South Korea targets to have zero-emission vehicles, not just battery electric vehicles (BEVs but also hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), to constitute 30 percent of the country’s total new car sales by 2030, up from current estimate of 3 percent.

Separately, the Korean government has announced that big power generation companies are now required to source at least 25 percent of their energy from renewable sources, up from the current 10 percent, effective October 2021.

The new directive will require 22 power distributors with capacity over 500 megaWatts to increase their share of renewable energy sources.