SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's state-run electric company said in a press release Tuesday that it has successfully developed two types of battery chargers for electric vehicles.

    The Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) revealed two chargers, an express-mode and a standard-mode, that take 20 minutes and 5 hours respectively to recharge electric vehicles to at least 80 percent.

    The express-mode is projected to be used at charging stations in the future, in a similar fashion to how gas stations operate currently, and the standard-mode is designed for home-use.

    KEPCO said, due to the absence of any fully-built electric vehicles in the South Korean auto-industry, they worked in cooperation with Hyundai and Kia motors, who recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the power company and are in the process of developing electric vehicles.

    The new chargers can be applied to electric cars immediately, KEPCO said, and it also has enhanced user-friendly features as it can be remotely controlled, recognize drivers, and accept credit cards.

    After further testing and design modifications, KEPCO said it plans to implement the battery chargers across the country starting 2011.

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