The government has subdivided the public electric vehicle charger fee system from the current two tiers to five, raising fees when charging is faster and lowering them when it is slower. But the EV charging industry is pushing back, saying that because the "roaming card," to which public charger fees apply, can be used at more than 90% of all chargers, this effectively sets a cap on private-sector fees.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment on the 29th said it will overhaul the EV charging fee bands from the current two tiers (100 kWh or more, 100 kWh or less) to five tiers: under 30 kWh, 30–50 kWh, 50–100 kWh, 100–200 kWh, and 200 kWh or more.
Currently, public EV charger fees are 324.4 won/kWh if the charger output is under 100 kW and 347.2 won/kWh if 100 kW or more. Going forward, they will be applied in five tiers: under 30 kW (294.3 won/kWh), 30–under 50 kW (306.0 won), 50–under 100 kW (324.4 won), 100–under 200 kW (347.2 won), and 200 kW or more (391.9 won).
The ministry said, "To resolve the problem that the current public charging fee system in operation does not sufficiently reflect the actual expense differences by charger (slow, medium, fast), we will subdivide the public charging fee system, which had been divided into two tiers of 100 kW or more and under based on charger output, into five bands," adding, "We will adjust the unit prices by reflecting operating costs for charging facilities, including communications fees and maintenance costs."
Related to this, Minister Kim Sung-hwan said at a meeting on the 16th at Government Complex Seoul titled "Roundtable on improving the installation and operation system of EV charging facilities in apartment complexes," "There is a problem in which fees are applied under the same standard even though the cost bases are different," adding, "We will establish reasonable standards by charging type."
However, the industry is pushing back. That is because the public charger fees released by the ministry function as a cap applied to chargers operated by private companies. The revamped EV charger fee system applies when using public chargers installed and operated by the ministry, or when paying with the ministry membership card, the "roaming card," at chargers that have agreements with the ministry.
The problem is that if the roaming card is used, charging is billed at the amount set by the government regardless of the amount a private operator explained. Currently, even if private operator A sets the slow charger fee at 330 won per kWh, a payment with the roaming card is charged at 324.4 won. The roaming card can be used at 99.8% of EV chargers in Korea. In effect, the public EV charger fee set by the government becomes the price ceiling.
Choi Young-seok, visiting professor at Halla University's Department of Future Mobility Engineering, said, "Public parking lots also have different fees depending on location, and this is no different from trying to impose EV charging fees uniformly using only one standard, kW," adding, "If the government, which does not intervene even when private parking lot fees are high, sets private EV charger fees, it will only reduce the business viability of EV operators and ultimately drive them out of the market."
Some large corporations have already exited the EV charger market. SK Broadband and Shinsegae sold their EV charging business units to GS CHARGEV. Hanwha Solutions also transferred its EV charger business to Pluglink.
The EV charger industry's performance is also weak. According to the EV charger industry, except for two of the top nine charging operators, the rest have posted losses for two consecutive years. Among operators that run fewer than 20,000 slow chargers, not a single one was in the black.
An official in the EV charger industry said, "There is a public aspect, such as installing chargers where there is no charging infrastructure, and if the price ceiling is lowered, many companies will ultimately pull out of the charging business and it will become difficult to expand charging infrastructure, which could run counter to the government's policy of expanding EV adoption," adding, "If companies leave due to the price cap, the government could ultimately be forced to take on the entire operation of EV chargers."