By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
The gates have been flung open in the competition among eco-friendly vehicles. Japan is in the lead with its top-selling hybrid vehicles, but Korea and other latecomers are fighting to narrow the gap.
As GM and Chrysler stagger amid the global economic slump, the race among hybrids is a tossup. Korea will need to move quickly to catch up with Japan and stay ahead of China.
Chinese makers are going all out to grab a technological edge in the development of these future cars. BYD, one of China's largest carmakers and the No. 2 lithium-ion battery maker in the world, released a plug-in hybrid model called the F3DM earlier this year. The vehicle can go 100 kilometers on a single charge.
Japan's Mitsubishi will become the first maker in the world to mass produce electric cars, as I-MiEV, an electric car with a top speed of 130 kilometers per hour which can be charged with household power sources, will hit the market next month.
Hyundai Motor started receiving orders for a liquefied petroleum injection (LPI) hybrid edition for its steady-selling Avante sedan on Monday. The model, to be released early next month as the first hybrid Korean vehicle with a 1.6-liter engine, will be priced at around 22 million won and can cover 17.8 kilometers on a liter of liquefied petroleum gas, which is equal to 22.2 kilometers for a liter of gasoline.
Kia Motors, Hyundai's largest affiliate, will also debut an LPI edition of the Forte compact sedan in August, with an expected fuel efficiency of 17.2 kilometers per liter.
The homemade models, however, will meet strong competition from a couple of Japanese models in the Korean market.
Toyota's Prius model will be introduced here in October. The sedan, which has an unprecedented 30-kilometers-per-liter fuel efficiency, is expected to be tagged at about 30 million won. Honda is also considering the debut of its hybrid model Insight in the near future.
As oil prices fluctuate and some signs point to a steep rise, hybrid cars will have a sharper edge in consumer appeal, industry experts predict.
High oil prices, strengthened fuel efficiency-related regulations worldwide and growing government subsidies are pushing countries to spur development of more eco-friendly vehicles, according to a recent report of the Korea Automotive Research Institute (KARI).
"Most predictions about eco-friendly vehicles were negative due to low oil prices, but the situation is completely different now," said Choi Sang-won, a KARI researcher. "A heated-up competition among carmakers in developing hybrid and electronic cars may be having effect of creating better vehicles and enlarging the market size."
On top of that, governments are subsidizing eco-friendly vehicles.
The United States has recently made it compulsory to raise fuel efficiency to over 15 kilometers per liter of gasoline, as well as reduce emissions by one-third from the current level, by 2016. The Korean government also decided to give a tax benefit of up to 3.1 million won ($2,462.3) for hybrid vehicles from next month, which will run through 2012.