More than one-third of newly registered taxis this year were electric vehicles, illustrating their continuously expanding market in the country.

According to Transport Ministry data analyzed by CarIsYou data center, 7,394 electric vehicles were newly registered for taxi operation from January to July. This equates to 36.4 percent of the 20,296 units newly registered as taxis in the same period. 

The number of electric taxis has significantly increased in the last decade.
In 2013, there were no registered electric taxis. But the number started to gradually grow from nine in 2014 to 54 units in 2015 and eventually 1,029 units in 2019. The number made almost a fivefold jump in 2021 to 4,993 units. 

The data showed that those who operate privately owned taxis prefer electric models. Of 7,394 newly registered electric taxis here this year, 86.8 percent were operated by private taxi drivers. Just 13.2 percent were corporately owned. 

By model, Hyundai Motor’s flagship Ioniq 5 was the most popular electric taxi with 3,453 units newly injected to the market, followed by the Kia EV6 (2,434) and Hyundai Niro EV (1,702). There were two G80 models and one GV70 model used as electric taxis, from Hyundai Motor’s luxury brand Genesis.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)