Thanks to the popularity of eco-friendly cars, SK Rent-a-Car’s long-term rental business for electric vehicles is growing steadily. The company expects demand for long-term rental cars for electric vehicles to continue for the time being, and plans to target the market with differentiated services.
According to SK Rent-a-Car on the 18th, the number of long-term rental car contracts for electric vehicles was estimated to be 1,500 as of the first quarter of this year. It’s the highest ever.
The cumulative number of contracts, which stood at only 1,700 in 2017 and 2020, increased to 6,700 last year and 8,200 in the first quarter of this year.
In other words, the number of contracts has been achieved in the past three months from 2017 to 2020. At this rate, SK Rent-a-Car’s cumulative number of long-term rental contracts for electric vehicles is expected to surpass 10,000 units in the first half of this year.
The increase in the number of long-term rental car contracts for electric vehicles is attributed to eco-friendly winds and high oil prices that are blowing around the world. As positive perception of electric vehicles increased, customer preference increased. Another advantage is that long-term rental cars for electric vehicles can be used conveniently and quickly regardless of problems such as subsidies or garages. SK Rent-a-Car is processing subsidies from the state and each local government on its own and reflecting the average in the monthly rental fee next month.
On top of that, the recent prolonged delay in the release of new cars due to unstable supply and demand of semiconductors for vehicles also affected the increase in long-term rental car contracts for electric vehicles. In the case of rental car companies, they can receive and use new cars faster than ordinary consumers because they sign a bulk purchase contract with a finished car company in advance.
Compared to last year, the proportion of customers who use long-term rental cars for electric vehicles has increased significantly this year. According to SK Rent-a-Car, Hyundai Motor’s “Ioniq 5” ranked first and Kia’s “EV6” ranked third in terms of long-term rental car contracts as of April. In other words, two out of three long-term rental cars are electric vehicles. 장기렌터카 비용
Earlier, SK Rent-a-Car has been preemptively responding by launching a long-term rental car service exclusively for electric vehicles for the first time in Korea in March 2016. The contract for 60 ‘SM3 Z.E.’s at the Jeju International Electric Vehicle Expo began. Since then, it has started its electric vehicle business in the second half of 2020 through a preparation process and has been expanding its business in earnest since last year.
In February last year, it issued 98 billion won worth of green bonds for the first time since its foundation to strengthen the rental of eco-friendly cars. In March, he also participated in the Ministry of Environment’s ‘K-EV100’ by declaring a transition to an eco-friendly mobility rental company. The main goal is to convert 100% of the vehicles owned into eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles by 2030.
In June, it also announced a plan to create ‘SK Rental Car EV Park (tentative name)’ in Jeju Island, the largest electric vehicle complex in Korea. By 2025, 3,000 electric vehicles will be introduced and a 7200-kilowatt (kW) charging infrastructure will be established to effectively operate vehicles.
SK Rent-a-Car is planning to lead the eco-friendly rental car market with differentiated services. A representative example is “EV All-in-One,” which was released for the first time in the industry in 2020. Including the monthly rental fee and charging fee, customers can charge free of charge during the contract period if they pay the rental fee. Korea Electric Power Corp. and the Ministry of Environment’s fast chargers, which are 7,000 (about 80% of electric vehicle charging stations nationwide), can be easily used only by user authentication without paying for SK Rent-a-Car. Recently, it has launched the industry’s first long-term rental car for electric vehicles “Polstar 2,” and this month, it is also expanding consumer choices by introducing short-term rental car products for “Polstar 2.”
An official from SK Rent-a-Car said, “The number of long-term rental contracts for electric vehicles this year is expected to increase steadily, exceeding last year. By 2030, we plan to respond to demand by converting all 200,000 vehicles we have into eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles.”