Socar, SoftBerry Plan 3-Month EV Parking-Charging Trial

Questions Socar’s Parking-Charging Trial Raises for Investors

Socar and SoftBerry’s bundled product is less about expanding their EV business than testing how frequently customers use the service. According to an Infostock Daily article published at 2026-10-26 08:15:12, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to pilot an integrated EV parking and charging service in selected areas of Seoul for about three months. Investors should focus first not on the monthly charging allowance itself, but on whether the model can consistently convert parking customers into charging-service users.

The integrated EV parking and charging service combines a monthly parking pass with charging benefits in a single product. Enabling drivers to charge where they park could reduce the inconvenience of finding a separate charging point. However, this phase is a small-scale sales trial at selected parking facilities in Seoul, so broader expansion should not be treated as an established outcome.

Roles of Modu Parking and EV Infra

Modu Parking, operated by Socar, will sell an EV-only product that combines its existing monthly parking pass with EV Infra’s EV Pay charging benefits. SoftBerry will provide the charging benefits and issue charging cards. After purchasing the product, customers will complete the registration and card-issuance process before using chargers inside the parking facility.

SoftBerry will provide a monthly charging allowance of 600kWh. Based on figures presented by Socar and SoftBerry, 600kWh supports approximately 3,000km of driving on average, although this varies by vehicle model. The figure indicates only the product’s usage limit, not actual charging consumption or utilization.

User Response Is the Key Metric During the Three-Month Trial

Socar and SoftBerry plan to jointly analyze user satisfaction and other relevant data during the roughly three-month pilot. In demand-cycle terms, the project is currently at an early validation stage. Sales volume and repeat usage must be confirmed before expansion to additional parking facilities can move from consideration to implementation.

Noh Hyun-chul told Infostock Daily, “We focused on the fact that most EV drivers regard the place where they park every day as effectively their charging space.” The path from this premise to a competitive service is clear. Bundling a regularly used parking space with charging payments can consolidate two separate customer journeys into one.

EV Strategy Extends to LG Electronics and V2G Demonstration

Rather than a standalone initiative, the agreement extends Socar’s ongoing validation of EV-related business models. Socar signed a memorandum of understanding with LG Electronics in 2024 and has since collaborated on building AI-powered smart charging stations. In January this year, it also launched a rental-car V2G demonstration project.

V2G is a technology that enables bidirectional electricity flows between EVs and the power grid. Socar has installed 15 bidirectional chargers and dedicated V2G parking spaces at its Jeju Socar Terminal, where it is validating the business model. While the bundled parking-charging product focuses on user convenience, the demonstration broadens the scope to using EVs as distributed energy resources.

Potential Impact on Socar’s Share Price—and Its Limits

• Socar: Adding charging functionality for Modu Parking customers expands the service touchpoints within its existing platform. Sustained user satisfaction would provide a basis for considering expansion to additional parking facilities.
• SoftBerry: Through EV Infra and EV Pay, the company will provide charging benefits and issue cards. If adoption of the bundled product grows, the points of contact between parking customers and the charging platform will also increase.
• Green mobility: Socar joined Korea’s 100% Zero-Emission Vehicle Conversion Initiative in 2021 and received approval for an external carbon-credit project in 2023. In September, the government officially certified 306 tonnes (tCO2eq) of emissions reductions from the external project pursued by Socar and HooXi Partners.

The strength of this positive catalyst remains limited. The specific locations and number of participating parking facilities, the bundled product’s price, and sales volume have not been disclosed. What is currently known is the service structure and validation strategy; there is not yet enough information to estimate revenue or profitability.

What Investors Should Monitor Next

• User satisfaction: This is the core metric the two companies have agreed to analyze jointly. It will show whether the registration process and charging benefits deliver tangible convenience.
• Expansion to additional parking facilities: The key inflection point will be whether the limited operation in selected parts of Seoul expands to a broader area after the roughly three-month trial.
• Product sales scope: Pricing and sales volume must be disclosed before investors can assess service demand and its potential contribution to earnings.
• Confirmation of follow-up partnerships: Cross-referrals between customers and improved charging-infrastructure utilization remain under consideration. Firm details will be needed to assess the business model’s potential scope.

Actual Usage Data Must Come Before Expansion Expectations

In an optimistic scenario, user satisfaction holds steady and the service expands to additional parking facilities. If the parking-charging bundle generates repeat usage, Modu Parking and EV Infra will have evidence to support expanding their respective service touchpoints. Socar’s EV strategy would also take a more concrete step from charging-infrastructure demonstrations toward an everyday consumer product.

Conversely, if customer response is weak or the sales footprint does not expand, the agreement will remain a limited operational trial. The share price should currently reflect an additional validation opportunity, not guaranteed profits. In roughly three months, investors should focus on satisfaction, sales coverage, and expansion to additional parking facilities—not promotional messaging.

This article was automatically summarized and analyzed from the original news report. View Original Article (Infostock Daily)