Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy revises 'Requirements for Environmentally Friendly Vehicles'…—Major new electric vehicles, including Kia PV5, added

*This content was translated by AI.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 13th the revision of the "Regulations on Requirements for Environmentally Friendly Vehicles" (Notice No. 2026-032), strengthening the legal·technical standards for expanding the adoption of environmentally friendly vehicles. The core of this revision is to clearly define the institutional investor for energy consumption efficiency measurement tests for electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell buses, and to include a large number of the latest environmentally friendly vehicles in the registration list.

Key points include the concretization of test institutional investors for validating the performance of electric buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses. For electric buses, the Korea Energy Agency, the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, and the Automotive Convergence Technology Institute have been designated as chassis dynamometer test institutional investors. For hydrogen fuel cell buses, the Korea Energy Agency has been explicitly tasked with measuring energy consumption efficiency, thereby enhancing the technical reliability of large commercial vehicles.

Notably, the newly updated list of environmentally friendly vehicles includes Kia's next-generation purpose-based mobility (PBV) models, "PV5 Prime" and "PV5 Light Camper." Both models feature a single-charge driving range of 345 km and an energy efficiency of 4.3 km/kWh. Additionally, as of the 13th, various electric passenger·cargo vehicles, including the Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ and the EVKMASADA Cargo, were added to the list of newly applicable targets.

Detailed management standards for the efficient operation of charging infrastructure have also been established. Vehicles parked at fast-charging facilities for more than one hour will be considered to be obstructing charging. To ensure smooth circulation, the use of charging zones is limited to a maximum of 14 hours for electric vehicles and 7 hours for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Additionally, fast chargers must comply with Combo 1 or Combo 2 standards with a maximum output of 40 kW or higher, while slow chargers must adhere to Type 1 standards with an output of less than 40 kW.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to simultaneously advance the market entry of high-performance eco-friendly vehicles and secure consumer confidence by updating the technical requirements for eco-friendly vehicles through this regulatory revision and strengthening the expertise of institutional investors in testing.

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*This content was translated by AI.