EV charging discounts of up to 32% to apply on weekends and holidays through October

Electric vehicle charging fees will be discounted during daytime hours on holidays from Saturday through Oct. 31, as autumn brings increased renewable energy generation.

The Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy announced Thursday that it will apply a 50 percent discount on EV charging electricity rates from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 21 weekends and public holidays falling between Saturday and Oct. 31.

The discount on electricity rates will be passed through to EV charging fees, as electricity costs account for roughly 35 percent of total charging fees.

The discount rate on charging fees will vary depending on who operates the charger.

More than 9,600 public fast chargers operated by the ministry will receive an additional discount on top of the electricity rate reduction, bringing charging fees down by about 22 to 32 percent, or 85.4 to 97.2 won per kilowatt-hour.

The additional discount will be offered only during this autumn season and is designed to measure the price elasticity of EV charging — that is, how much demand shifts in response to changes in charging fees.

Chargers operated by Korea Electric Power Corporation and the Seoul Metropolitan Government will reflect only the electricity rate discount, cutting charging fees by about 11 to 17 percent. For Korea Electric Power Corporation chargers, the per-kilowatt-hour rate will fall by 40.1 to 48.6 won.

Nineteen private charging operators are also participating in the discount program. The method and size of discounts vary by company — some will reduce charging fees directly while others will issue equivalent points — so customers should check each operator's website for details.

Similar discounts on EV charging electricity rates and charging fees were also offered last spring.

During the 17 discounted weekends and public holidays from April 18 through May, the daily average number of charging sessions was 4,654 — up 9.2 percent from the daily average of 4,261 recorded in the week before the discounts began (April 4 to April 10). EV charging fees were discounted by up to 15 percent at that time.

The ministry is reviewing plans to introduce a seasonal and time-of-use electricity pricing regime for EV charging as early as the first half of next year, and intends to incorporate the results of this discount program into the design of that system.