Those with lower performance are disassembled into modules and those modules also go into the inspection rooms for performance testing. Battery packs are made with 10 modules which are made with 10 cells. Modules are reused to make small electric power storage systems, wheelchair batteries, electric bicycles, and e-scooters. The rest are sold to private companies that extract rare materials su...

Over 5,000 “supercars,” those worth around 300 million won ($230,000), have been registered as corporate cars in South Korea, according to the National Assembly Budget Office on Sunday. The data showed that the number of super expensive imported cars bought by corporations have quadrupled over the past six years from 1,172 to 5,075 units. Since 2016, the number of corporate supercars have shown...

Hyundai Motor’s first all-electric vehicle Ioniq 5 is set to hit some 90,000 unit sales globally since its launch a year ago. According to the carmaker on Thursday, the electric midsize crossover utility vehicle sold 88,871 units – 33,212 units at home and 55,658 units abroad – as of March this year. The Ioniq 5 made its debut in April last year, becoming the first car to be running on Hyundai’...

Gimpo International Airport in Seoul is resuming the long-stalled operation of international flights from June, starting with popular routes between South Korea and Japan. According to the Transport Ministry on Thursday, several South Korean and Japanese air carriers such as Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have filed applications to resume international flights...

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- The International Electric Vehicle Expo, an annual exhibition of green cars, kicked off Tuesday for its ninth run bringing around 200,000 industry experts and visitors from around 50 countries to the South Korean island of Jeju. While the expo preparation committee had promised to expand the participation of finished car brands this year, only two, Tesla and Polestar, to...

American Chamber of Commerce in Korea suggested lifting regulations to make Korea an attractive investment destination for global companies to the new incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration Friday. The AmCham Board of Governors sent a letter signed by its 34 members to the Transition Committee with some policy recommendations. They include the need to improve the flexibility of employment condit...

The Genesis GV70 3.5T Sport was rated as the best sports utility vehicle by Car and Driver, an American auto magazine, outpacing BMW X3 M40i and the Lexus RX350 F Sport, Hyundai Motor said Friday. Car and Driver evaluated these three cars based on four categories including vehicle, powertrain, chassis, and experience. Genesis GV70 3.5T Sport took the throne with a total score of 213 out of 240,...

South Korean electric cable manufacturer LS Group has launched a subsidiary to run electric vehicle charging business, officials said Thursday. The new unit, LS E-Link, was jointly established by LS, the holding company, and E1, an LPG importer unit under the group. “As EV transition accelerates, power usage will grow in EV charging stations which means that power engineering will become more i...

Kia has partnered up with The Ocean Cleanup, a Netherlands-based nonprofit engineering environmental organization, to remove plastic wastes from the sea for a sustainable Earth, according to Kia on Thursday. The Ocean Cleanup develops cleanup systems to remove floating pieces of plastic caught in what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a collection of marine debris in the North Pacif...

South Korean chip-and-telecom giant SK has become the nation’s second-largest conglomerate, replacing Hyundai Motor for the first time in 12 years, a local antitrust regulator said Wednesday. Having accumulated over 291 trillion won ($230 billion) in total assets, SK took the number two spot, largely due to increased assets and sales in its chipmaking arm SK hynix. The semiconductor unit’s acqui...

Seoul aims to become a global hub for beauty and cosmetic businesses by providing full support to small- and medium-sized companies eyeing opportunities to enter overseas markets, a business support organization run by the municipal government said. The Seoul Business Agency, run by the Seoul city government, plans to hold a weeklong event this year with a focus on the beauty and cosmetic indust...

The daily average of air travelers is expected to be around 81,000 in July, which is around 40 percent of air travelers from the same period in 2019, right before the pandemic hit the world, according to the operator of South Korea‘s major air gateway Incheon Airport, on Monday. After November, Incheon International Airport Corp. anticipates a 70 percent recovery of the daily average air travele...

South Korea is lagging behind in revising regulations to prepare for the commercialization of autonomous vehicles compared to other major countries such as the US, Germany and Japan, a Seoul-based think tank said Sunday. The market size of autonomous, or self-driving, vehicles is expected to grow from $7.1 billion in 2020 to $1 trillion by 2035, a report by the Korea Economic Research Institute ...

The head of South Korea’s largest air carrier said Thursday that the company‘s acquisition of its domestic rival Asiana Airlines will contribute to enhancing the bilateral economic relationship between South Korea and the United States, expressing hope for Washington’s approval of the merger. “We are committed to increasing our activity in the US given the positive environment and we will contin...

SK ecoplant said Wednesday that it will begin producing glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars as an alternative to steel bars. SK ecoplant will be the first to make GFRP bars made from elements extracted from used plastic bottles, which the company named “KEco-Bar.” Manufacturing GFRP bars does not involve using scrap iron limestone, thus reducing carbon emissions by more than 50 percent c...