Eco-Friendly Hybrid Taxi Introduced in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea, December 18 - The Seoul Metropolitan Government started the test-run of eco-friendly
taxis from December 3, to transform current gas taxis into hybrid ones that
will contribute to improvement of air quality of the city. To do so, the city
government concluded an agreement on preliminary introduction of hybrid taxis
with the Ministry of Environment of Korea, Korea National Joint Conference of
Taxi Association, Hyundai-Kia Motors and Korea LPG Association on December 1.

They have agreed that improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gases
in the city are urgent issues. Accordingly, they have decided to join hands
to support the distribution of hybrid taxis. The Korea National Joint
Conference of Taxi Association will select participating taxi companies and
support the monitoring of its operation. Hyundai-Kia Motors will do its role
as an automobile manufacturer by monitoring and developing technologies,
including analysis of vehicle components durability. Korea LPG Association
will support supply of fuel for the taxis, and the Seoul Metropolitan
Government and the Ministry of Environment will provide administrative
supports.

Newly introduced hybrid taxi is LPI hybrid vehicle powered by Liquefied
Petroleum Injection engine that was first developed in Korea. A total of ten
taxis are running in the city by five taxi companies in Seoul, selected by
the Korea National Joint Conference of Taxi Association.

The LPI hybrid taxis distributed in Seoul use LP gas as fuel and adopted
liquefied petroleum direct injection engine to enhance 1,600cc engine power.
The vehicle is also installed with 15kw electric motor as auxiliary power
unit to generate electricity for charging the battery by recovering the motor
with braking energy that is usually lost at down hills. The hybrid taxi also
stops the idling by shutting down the engine when the car is not running to
prevent fuel consumption from unnecessary engine idling. The vehicle is
expected to be especially effective for the taxi fleet as taxis spend most of
the time waiting with their engine on.

According to a city official, hybrid taxi is highly environmentally
friendly as one hybrid taxi is expected to reduce more than six tons of
greenhouse gas emissions annually and halve air pollutant emissions such as
nitrogen oxides. The preliminary introduction will gain its full swing from
next year.

    Contact

     Sunny Eunsun Chung
     Seoul Metropolitan Government
     Tel: +82-2-3707-8768
     press@seoul.go.kr

Sunny Eunsun Chung,Seoul Metropolitan Government ,+82-2-3707-8768, press at seoul.go.kr