South Korea's exports of electric cars have surged this year thanks to higher demand from the U.S. and Europe.<br />For the year, industry watchers expect sales to hit 3 billion U.S. dollars.<br />Yoon Jung-min reports.<br />With increasing demand from overseas markets and more investment by South Korean car makers,... sales of Korean electric cars overseas have nearly doubled this year.<br />According to the Trade Ministry on Monday,... total shipments of electric cars amounted to over 2-point-5 billion U.S. dollars from January to October this year,... up 103 percent compared to the same period last year.<br />That jump comes amid a 6-point-7 percent rise in total automobile exports on-year.<br />Exports of electric cars have increased for 33 straight months,... and analysts expect sales this year to hit 3-billion dollars for the first time.<br />Electric cars made up 7 percent of all automobile exports in the January-to-October period.<br />The increase is mainly because of rising demand from large markets, including the U.S. and Europe. A government source has said more foreign consumers have looked for electric cars as prices have fallen for those vehicles.<br />Also, major automobile companies in Korea, including Hyundai Motors, have been constantly increasing their investments in future cars, including electric cars and hydrogen powered cars.<br />"To prepare for the eco-friendly car market, Hyundai Motors plans to release 23 types of electric cars by 2025 and currently we're developing platforms for those cars. We expect to invest nearly 35-billion dollars on future mobility technology by 2025."<br />Along with the rising demand for electric vehicles,... demand for secondary batteries and energy storage systems has also increased.<br />The ministry said shipments of secondary batteries were up more than 4 percent on-year to nearly 6-point-2 billion dollars from January to October this year.<br />Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.<br />
