Electric vehicles are still crossing the chasm. This means that there are still many issues to be resolved before we can take the lead in earnest.


Last year, the domestic market sold about 220,000 units annually, enough to exhaust all electric vehicle subsidies, but it is still too weak to emerge as a leading force.

It is still inconvenient to charge due to the lack of rapid chargers for long-distance driving, and the price is about 30-50% higher than that of internal combustion engine vehicles, so it is said that sales will be difficult without subsidies.

There is still the electric vehicle phobia caused by the thermal runaway phenomenon and lack of golden time due to electric vehicle fires, the inconvenience caused by the reduced driving range in winter and the accumulated decrease due to the heater, and various operational management issues such as avoiding entering flooded roads and prohibiting impacts on the floor battery compared to internal combustion engine vehicles are also inconvenient items.

The spread of electric vehicles has been slowing down due to President Trump's recent preference for internal combustion engine vehicles and policies to revitalize oil resources, as well as Europe's postponement of its 2035 end-of-sales announcement, and fears of China's global low-price electric vehicle market.

Everyone is avoiding battery distribution policies, and transitional models such as hybrid vehicles are expected to lead the way for the time being.

Of course, it is certain that in a few years, electric vehicles will emerge as the leading force and become the representative model of zero-emission vehicles.

The expected global electric vehicle sales this year are expected to be around 23 to 25 million units, which is certain to exceed 25% of the approximately 80 million global automobile sales.

In particular, with autonomous driving and artificial intelligence being added based on electric vehicles, the expansion of the robotics market including humanoid robots, and the emergence of urban air mobility (UAM), the popularization of electric vehicles and batteries is inevitable.

In this situation, the issue of electric vehicle safety is also on the chopping block. there is.

As electric vehicle manufacturers emerge from the existing global market dominated by internal combustion engine vehicle manufacturers, interest in the safety of electric vehicles is also growing.

This is because while manufacturers of existing internal combustion engine vehicles emphasize various devices with safety as a prerequisite, manufacturers of electric vehicles have a low level of awareness of safety devices for moving devices.

This practice is the same for many electric vehicle manufacturers, including Tesla, China's BYD, and Xpeng.

In other words, when a car catches fire or is flooded and is in danger, the golden time is directly related to life.

In conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, fires are concentrated in the engine room and the time it takes for the fire to spread is long, whereas in electric vehicles, fires mostly occur in the floor battery and the temperature rises rapidly, leaving very little time to escape, as there is very little golden time.

The same goes for flooding.

In this situation, intuitive opening and closing of the door is a key safety requirement, but electric vehicle manufacturers often simply lock the door when the electrical energy is cut off.

In particular, there are many situations where the door handles are built into the exterior and interior, making it difficult to open intuitively in an emergency and making escape completely impossible if the power goes out.

In Korea, there have already been more than two cases of death due to failure to escape, and overseas, there are far too many cases.

The interior doors are in even worse shape, and the exterior is also in trouble.

In an emergency, there are many cases where the safety of passengers is seriously compromised because firefighters from outside cannot separate the door, which takes a long time, and in overseas countries, it is not uncommon for doors to freeze in the winter and not open.

I have also mentioned this issue hundreds of times in various columns and broadcasts over the years, and have established related policies in the National Assembly.This is an issue that Mina often mentions.

Even Tesla, which sells more than 50,000 electric vehicles in the domestic market annually, has serious problems with this issue, but has not made any improvements.

There have already been several deaths in related accidents and the issue has been discussed numerous times in National Assembly policy seminars, but there has been no improvement whatsoever.

This is because, although it is a violation of domestic laws, the situation is unfolding in which we cannot even bring ourselves to say anything if the United States certifies it under the pretext of the Korea-US FTA.

The Korea-US FTA has already collapsed due to President Trump's unilateral tariff imposition, but it remains a treaty we diligently defend. Our opinions are being completely ignored in the US.

The situation has changed recently, with China, which accounts for roughly half of the global electric vehicle market, declaring that it will phase out flush-mounted doors in electric vehicles starting in January 2027.

With the issue of astronomical punitive damages already being raised over these issues, Tesla is showing signs of improvement under pressure from China and the United States.

Regardless of what we say, the global market will have no choice but to follow China's phasing out of landfill doors starting next year.

It is certain that safety improvements will change, starting with Tesla.

Thanks to China, our market is also changing. Seeing the regret of our government, which cannot even bring itself to speak, I feel very sad for the citizens who have already died in related accidents.

Of course, the risks of the vehicle model already purchased are borne by the owner, so we hope that the owner will drive safely and prepare a plan for emergency situations.

Personally, I think the internal flush doors are more serious than the external ones.

The internal recessed door is more directly connected to the golden time for escape, so it is said that more rapid action is required.

If an accident does occur, please face the fact that it will be decided and ended due to driver negligence.

In any case, we are grateful for the fact that we are also benefiting from China's recent measures, and the reality is that we will continue to benefit from China's leading electric vehicle policy.

It's a sad reality. We're entering an era where China dominates all sectors.