The government will halve electric car charging fees and increase state subsidies for electric car buyers as part of efforts to promote the use of such vehicles.

Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Woo Tae-hee said on Monday during a briefing on energy policy that the government will speed up the implementation of programs to foster the electric car industry in order to make such vehicles a key export item by 2020.

The government will first cut electric car charging fees by half from September, which will bring down the price for quick charging to 60-thousand won from the current 120-thousand won. The price for normal charging will also go down to 95-hundred won from 19-thousand won.

The government will also develop the technology of lithium-ion batteries which is expected to double the travel distance of electric cars. In addition, it will develop one-ton electric trucks by 2020 and expand infrastructure for the industry by increasing electric car charging facilities and stations nationwide.

The government plans to increase the nation’s exports of electric cars to 200-thousand units by 2020 from 12-thousand last year, a move which is anticipated to bring the nation’s share in the global market to over ten percent.