BYD electric vehicles will enter the South Korean market in the first half of 2016 with no subsidiaries

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai Feb 15th)— China and South Korea are fighting fiercely in the electric vehicle market by issuing laws and establishing systems to prevent the other one’s entry. China bans Chinese enterprises from using South Korean batteries and South Korea refuses to provide subsidiaries to Chinese electric vehicle companies.

BYD, the biggest Chinese electric vehicle company, is planning to launch electric vehicles to the South Korean market this year.

According to professional and official news, BYD will launch electric cars and buses to South Korean central and local governments in the first half of this year for civil transportation.

On February 11th, BYD announced it will launch electric car “e6400” and electric bus “K9” in the first half of this year. Recently, BYD is conducting cooperation with South Korean charging infrastructure enterprises, and has accomplished relevant compatibility testing, with application under examination by the South Korean government.

At the end of last year, KCC Auto Group conducted cooperation with BYD and finished e6400’s authentication. K9’s authentication will be conducted by BYD headquarter. If comes smoothly, BYD plans to join the “supplying electric vehicles to civilians” business launched by South Korean Ministry of Environment at the first half of this year.

It’s reported the examination and authentication work encounters some difficulties. According to requirements by South Korean Ministry of Environment, only electric vehicles with charging time for empty charging infrastructure (7 KW) less than 10 hours could obtain subsidiaries. The current electric vehicles in South Korean market have a battery capacity between 16 to 28 KW, and the charging time is between 5 to 7 hours.

BYD e6400 has an 80KW battery, with charging time of 13 hours. Not only for e6400, Tesla Model S and Model X’s charging time also exceed 10 hours, therefore they could not obtain subsidiaries from South Korean government. Tesla raises battery capacity and increases single-way driving distances to solve inconvenience, creating obstacles for itself in the South Korean market.

For consideration of further management such as after-sales services, BYD vehicles are mainly imported by individuals instead of governments. That’s another reason that BYD electric vehicles could not get subsidiaries from South Korea.

From all aspects, BYD’s electric vehicles don’t conform to South Korean government’s evaluation standards and therefore can’t obtain subsidiaries. If the regulation keeps tight, it’s quite difficult for BYD electric vehicles to enter into the South Korean market.

Recently, Chinese government issued a new regulation that electric vehicles with lithium batteries made by NCM will not obtain subsidiaries. LG Chem and Samsung SDI’s battery products are mainly made by NCM. The new regulation is quite a shock for South Korean battery companies, for they have established lithium battery production line in China and are planning to expand the business.