Seoul City to kick out grade 4 diesel cars

[Smart City Today]

Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would expand the restrictions on pollution and early scrapping of vehicles from the current grade 5 to grade 4 vehicles. As the Seoul Metropolitan Government's leading limit on the operation of pollution vehicles (grade 5) proved to reduce traffic volume, the plan is to gradually expand the target to eliminate old pollution vehicles early in 2050 with the goal of limiting the operation of all vehicles with internal combustion engines throughout Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government also set a goal of converting courier trucks (6,100 cars) and delivery motorcycles (33,400 cars) into electric cars by 2026. This is because courier trucks and delivery motorcycles that travel through alleys are closely related to civic life and generate soot and noise. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to replace courier trucks with 100% electric cars by 2026 and deliver motorcycles by 2025.

It also announced its plan to convert all town buses (457 units) into electric vehicles by 2026. Unlike the city buses that diesel-free has been completed, town buses have remained diesel-powered. The city plans to replace all 457 diesel town buses (28% of the total) with electric cars by 2026. It will support the replacement cost of 100 million won per unit, as transportation companies' demand for electric buses is increasing due to rising oil prices.

The government plans to convert diesel cleaning cars (255 road cleaning cars and 2,118 collection and transportation cars) into low-pollution cars by 2030.

In addition, the city and provincial buses (2,438 cars) entering Seoul will also actively induce the conversion to low-pollution cars by 2026. Of the total 6,321 buses in Gyeonggi and Incheon that currently enter Seoul, 39 percent (2,438 cars) are diesel cars. Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to find concrete ways to realize the plan by facing Gyeonggi and Incheon with the goal of replacing all of them with compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric cars by 2026.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has firmly established its intention to take the initiative in the elimination of vehicles with internal combustion engines. In 2035, it will restrict the operation of all internal combustion engine vehicles in green traffic areas and prohibit new registrations. The city then announced its ambition to achieve the elimination of internal combustion locomotives throughout Seoul in 2050.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "The concentration of ultrafine dust in Seoul last year was 20μg/m3." By 2026, we will lower it to 15μg/m3, which is the national atmospheric environment standard, and we will bring it down to the 13μg/m3 level of major overseas advanced cities by 2030. "

To this end, the city of Seoul plans to invest a total of 3.8 trillion won by 2030.