South Korea To Offer Generous Subsidies For Tesla Buyers

After Tesla owners in South Korea were initially shunned by the government

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by Brad Anderson

July 21, 2017 at 01:32

After Tesla owners in South Korea were initially shunned by the government for its generous electric vehicle subsidies, the nation’s Ministry of Environment has done a backflip and will offer discounts to newly-registered Tesla vehicles.

Currently, EVs that are eligible for the incentives of up to 26 million won ($23,278) have to be fully charged in less than 10 hours using a 7 kilowatt-hour charger. As the Model S 70 and 90 models sold in South Korea take at least 13 hours to fully charge, they didn’t fit the government’s criteria.

However, it has been announced that from September, the 10-hour charging rule will be abolished meaning the starting price for a Model S 90D will drop from 115.7 million won ($103,071) to approximately $80,000.

Under new rules, the government states that EVs must be capable of supporting a 32 ampere low-speed charger and a 100 ampere high-speed charger in an attempt to not provide incentives to vehicles with poor quality batteries.

The generous subsidies also mean that when the Model 3 arrives in South Korea next year, prices could be as low as 20 million won ($17,760).