A 40-something office worker surnamed Lee recently reserved the Polestar 4, an electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) from the Swedish EV brand Polestar, and is waiting for delivery. Lee said, "The apartment's underground parking lot has EV charging facilities, so it's attractive that I don't need to go to a gas station," adding, "As EV driving ranges have increased, my concern about long-distance driving has eased, so I chose an EV."
The electric vehicle market is gradually reviving. According to Kaizuyu Data Research Institute, the number of EVs registered in Korea from January to September this year was 170,514, up 57.2% from the same period a year earlier (108,430). Looking only at electric passenger cars, 153,195 were registered, a 67.2% increase from the same period a year earlier (91,630). They accounted for 13.4% of all passenger cars, including internal combustion engines. If the rate stays in the 10% range through the end of the year, it will mark the first-ever double-digit share.
New models largely drove this year's EV sales growth. Among the top-selling models from January to September this year, Tesla's Model Y Juniper, launched in May, ranked No. 1 with 37,035 units. That is 24.2% of all electric passenger cars. Next were Kia's The Kia EV3 (18,732 units, launched in May 2024), Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 (12,204 units, model-year update in May this year), Kia's The New EV6 (7,954 units, launched in June 2024), and Kia's The Kia Ray EV (7,901 units, model-year update in Oct. 2024).
The compact electric SUV The Kia EV5, which Kia launched on 4th, had more than 4,800 contracts as of 25th. Compared with its predecessor, the compact sedan The Kia EV4, which sold 6,814 units from its launch in March this year through the end of September, that is a solid result. With the EV5, Kia has built an EV portfolio that spans every segment from small (Ray) to large (EV9).
BYD Korea began delivering the urban electric SUV Sealion 7 to customers on 11th. The Sealion 7, updated to the 2026 model year, was launched first in Korea. A BYD Korea official said, "The 800-plus units brought into the country have all been contracted," adding, "Cumulative contracts exceed 1,000."
Although the EV market is recovering, some say it is too early to be relieved. An auto industry official said, "A lot of new EVs came out from last year to this year. Next year, there won't be as many new models as this year." Hyundai Motor Group alone unveiled about 20 EVs this year, including five all-new models as well as facelifts and model-year updates.
An EV battery industry official also said, "The domestic EV market is slowly coming back, but performance is barely defending last year's level," adding, "It will take at least two to three years before the EV industry broadly regains momentum."