South Korea’s electric vehicle sales hit the 10,000 unit milestone in the first half of this year, exceeding the numbers sold for the whole of last year.

According to auto industry sources and Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, the number of electric cars sold in the country in the January-June period stood at 11,866 units. This number is expected to reach 12,000 when including Tesla, whose sales figures remain confidential, and mini EVs of smaller automakers.

This is nearly triple the figure of the same period last year, when sales totaled 4,412 units, and almost the same as last year’s total annual sales of 13,536 units.

Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq Electric topped the list, with a share of 38 percent and sales of 4,488 units.

GM Korea’s Chevrolet Volt EV came second, selling 3,122 units for a market share of 26 percent. Its sales shot up nearly elevenfold from a year ago when the automaker suffered from a supply shortage.

Hyundai’s Kona EV jumped to third place, selling 1,380 units in just two months since its release.

Industry experts expect annual EV sales to easily top 20,000 this year as more new models are currently in the pipeline.

According to the country’s transport ministry, the number of new EV registrations grew from 61 in 2010 to 1,308 in 2014. The number has since more than doubled every year, to 2,917 in 2015, 5,099 in 2016, and 13,724 in 2017.

By Lee Seung-hoon and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]