The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is continuing to accept applications from corporate and private taxi drivers to participate in its eco-friendly EV taxi fleet project this year. The city subsidized 1,500 EV taxis (corporate: 400; private: 1,100) in the first half of the year, and will subsidize 1,500 more EV taxis (corporate: 300; private: 1,200) in the second half of the year for taxi drivers with a taxi license issued by Seoul.

As the citywide private taxi shift scheduling system was lifted as of November 2020 for EV taxis, allowing taxis to be operated on all days of the week, the demand for EV taxis has been on the rise due to the merits of energy efficiency and fuel economy.

With the gradual increase in the demand for EV taxis by taxi drivers, Seoul will increase the number of EV taxis to 3,000 (1,500 for the first half and 1,500 for the second half), which is up 480% YoY from 627 in 2021, to actively increase its citywide taxi fleet.

Taking into account the fact that taxis have 7 to 13 times the daily mileage compared to general vehicles, replacing general vehicles with EV taxis has a significant effect on reducing GHG emissions. Therefore, the SMG will provide subsidies of up to KRW 12 million, which is KRW 3 million greater than for general vehicles.

Seoul will continue to promote more eco-friendly transportation policies, such as by expanding its taxi fleet to meet the growing demand for EV taxis due to their effect of reducing GHG emissions while increasing gas mileage.