Competition heats up for electric light commercial vehicles in Korea

MASTA Electric Vehicle Co.‘s MASTA HIM [Photo provided by MASTA Electric Vehicle]

Fledging electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are scrambling to meet the growing demand for light commercial vehicles in South Korea, which had been represented by GM Korea Co.’s Labo and Damas until two years ago when production was discontinued.

According to the automotive industry on Monday, MASTA Electric Vehicle Co., Future EV, and Daechang Motors Co. are among the rising EV makers that have launched or are preparing to launch a light commercial vehicle in the local car market.

Labo and Damas - first introduced in 1991 - were very popular in Korea as they served as efficient and affordable vehicles for operations for small businesses. They are each priced in the 10 million won ($7,571) range and are small enough to drive through narrow roads. The production of the models has been discontinued, and now, others are looking to take their spot, this time, in environmentally-friendly types.

MASTA HIM, the flagship model of MASTA EV, is a self-developed, two-seater ultra-small electric truck. It is equipped with a battery with a capacity of 13.08 kilowatt hour (kwh) and can travel up to 120 kilometers on a single charge. Its maximum load is only 200 kilograms but it is suited for specific purposes.

The company supplied the car as a mail delivery vehicle to the Korea Post in 2019 and exported 4,000 units of a powertrain-improved model to Indonesia for cash transport purpose.

Future EV‘s F100 [Photo provided by Future EV]

The manufacturer has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business to provide support for small businesses through joint purchase of small EVs.

MASTA HIM has a factory price tag of 22.8 million won. It can be purchased for about 12 million won after applying subsidies from local governments and additional support for small businesses, including the Ministry of Environment’s EV subsidy of 5.5 million won.

Future EV plans to release the F100 Mini in the second half of this year. Future EV, founded by Kim Kyung-soo, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), specializes in electric commercial vehicles.

F100 Mini is an electric truck with a maximum load capacity of 300kg. The company plans to release F100S and F100L with a maximum load of 450kg and 550kg each next year. The F100 series will be produced by Daedong Corp., a company specializing in agricultural machinery. Future EV aims to sell more than 5,000 units of the F100 series annually in 2025.

Daechang Motors recently unveiled DANIGO, an electric truck with a maximum load of 800kg, at the Seoul Mobility Show 2023. The basic model, DANIGO-C2, can be purchased for 13 million won with factory discounts and EV subsidies. The vehicle is 4,700 millimeters long, which is 400 mm shorter than that of Hyundai Motor Co.’s cabover truck Porter.