S. Korea to allow driver's license tests on EVs

South Korea is planning to allow those taking tests for driver's licenses to do so with electric vehicles, the National Police Agency said Wednesday.

According to the NPA, the revision of the Road Traffic Act allowing battery-powered cars to be used at state-run driver's test centers was passed at the Korean National Police Committee meeting on Wednesday. The revision is expected to come into effect as early as this year, in which case test-takers will be able to use EVs next year.

Under the new law, cars using either batteries or internal combustion engines will be randomly allocated to test-takers.

The latest measure is in response to the growing number of drivers opting for electric vehicles, according to the NPA. An August report by the Korea Automobile and Mobility Association showed that there were 606,610 EVs in the country as of the first half of this year, which has skyrocketed from 25,108 in 2017, when the authorities first started keeping track.

The revision will also expand the types of vehicles to be used in tests for Class 1 driver's licenses, which are for larger vehicles. The current regulations allow Class 1 General tests to be taken on 1-ton trucks -- a class of vehicle that is rapidly becoming outdated and lacks new models -- but the new regulation will also allow the use of vans.

Tests for Class 1 Large permits, which are currently conducted only via buses, will use both buses and large trucks.