Tradeoffs between the Time and Cost of Electric Vehicle Charging in Korea

29 Pages Posted: 20 Feb 2025

See all articles by David Woo

David Woo

KDI School of Public Policy and Management - KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Students

Yeong Jae Kim

KDI School of Public Policy and Management; RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE), Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Italy

Changkeun Lee

KDI School of Public Policy and Management

Date Written: February 20, 2025

Abstract

We explore how varying charging costs and speeds shape the decisions of electric vehicle (EV) owners in South Korea, a setting challenged by dense urban environments and limited charger expansion. Drawing on survey responses from 1,600 EV users in July 2023 and 2024, we employ logistic regression across both grouped and individual cost-speed scenarios. Our results indicate that each 1 KRW shift in price can lead to a 0.2-0.4% change in the likelihood of choosing a particular charger type. Although respondents generally favor slow charging-especially at home-this preference diminishes as cost gaps narrow, revealing a material balance between affordability and speed. These findings highlight the need for tailored pricing and infrastructure strategies to manage local charger usage efficiently. Policymakers and industry stakeholders can leverage these insights to inform infrastructure investments and encourage balanced utilization of both slow and fast charging options in areas with varying charger availability.

Keywords: Korea, electric vehicles, charging, cost, speed, tradeoff, willingness-to-pay Highlights

Suggested Citation

Woo, David and Kim, Yeong Jae and Lee, Changkeun, Tradeoffs between the Time and Cost of Electric Vehicle Charging in Korea (February 20, 2025). KDI School of Pub Policy & Management Paper No. DS25-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5145752 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5145752

David Woo

KDI School of Public Policy and Management - KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Students ( email )

Yeong Jae Kim (Contact Author)

KDI School of Public Policy and Management ( email )

P.O. Box 184
Seoul, 130-868
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE), Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Italy ( email )

Via Bergognone, 34
Milan, 20144
Italy

Changkeun Lee

KDI School of Public Policy and Management ( email )

P.O. Box 184
Seoul, 130-868
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
33
Abstract Views
232
PlumX Metrics