Promotion of Electric Vehicles in Hong Kong

Background

Electric vehicles (EVs) have no tailpipe emissions. Replacing conventional vehicles with EVs can help improve roadside air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A wider use of EVs also contributes to the development of environmental industries.

The Finance Secretary chairs a Steering Committee on the Promotion of EVs with members drawn from various sectors to recommend a strategy complementary with specific measures to promote the use of electric vehicles in Hong Kong, having regard to the resulting energy efficiency, environmental benefits and the creation of business opportunities.

In addition, the Government announced the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles (the Roadmap) on 17 March 2021, setting out the long-term policy objectives and plans to promote the adoption of EVs and their associated supporting facilities in Hong Kong. The Roadmap will guide Hong Kong’s future direction to attain zero vehicular emissions before 2050. This acts in concert with our other targets to strive for carbon neutrality in the same time frame, and forges ahead with the vision of ‘Zero Carbon Emissions ‧ Clean Air ‧ Smart City’.

Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles	Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles (pamphlet)

Government’s Measures to Promote the Use of
Electric Vehicles

The Government has been promoting the use of EVs by the following measures:

1. Offering first registration tax (FRT) concessions for EVs. FRT on electric commercial vehicles (including goods vehicles, buses, light buses, taxis, and special purpose vehicles), electric motor cycles and electric motor tricycles will be fully waived. For electric private cars, the concession arrangement is as follows:
   1. except for eligible private car owners (see ii. below), FRT for electric private cars will be waived up to $97,500.
   2. private car owners who arrange to scrap and de-register their own eligible old private car (private car with an internal combustion engine or electric private car) and then first register a new electric private car can enjoy a higher FRT concession up to $287,500 under the “One-for-One Replacement” Scheme.

The deadline for the above concession arrangement is 31 March 2024.

2. Enterprises which procure EVs are allowed 100% profits tax deduction for the capital expenditure on EVs in the first year of procurement.

3. A New Energy Transport Fund (previously named Pilot Green Transport Fund) has been put in place since March 2011 to encourage the transport sectors and charitable / non-profit-making organizations to try out and widely use green innovative and low carbon transport technologies (including electric commercial vehicles).

4. The Government allocated $180 million for franchised bus companies to purchase 36 single-deck electric buses, include 28 battery-electric buses and 8 supercapacitor buses, for trial runs to assess their operational efficiency and performance under the local conditions. 26 battery-electric buses and 7 supercapacitor buses have commenced operation. The remaining electric buses are expected to be put into service progressively in 2021.

5. The Chief Executive announced in the 2019 Policy Address that the Government would prepare for a $2 billion pilot subsidy scheme to promote installation of electric vehicle charging-enabling infrastructure ("EVCEI") in car parks of existing private residential buildings. The pilot subsidy scheme, namely the “EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme” (“EHSS”), is to help car parks of existing private residential buildings with multiple ownership resolve technical and financial difficulties that are encountered frequently when retrofitting EVCEI, and further facilitate car park owners to install EV chargers of their choice for charging EVs at home in the future in a simple and easy manner. The EHSS will run for about 3 years with a view to covering roughly 60,000 private parking spaces. Application starts from 21 October 2020, and owners’ corporations, DMC managers or all owners collectively can submit applications. Processing of applications is on a first-come-first-served basis until the funding is used up.

EV Models in Hong Kong

As at end of August 2021, the total number of EV is 23 472, representing about 2.5% of the total number of vehicles. At present, 144 EV models from 13 economies have been type-approved by the Transport Department. These include 109 models for private cars and motorcycles, 35 models for public transport and commercial vehicles, listed as follows:

For EV models that are available for sale in Hong Kong, please check with vehicle retailers or manufacturers.

Installation of EV Chargers

In general, EV owners should charge their EVs by using charging facilities at their workplace, home or other suitable places.  The public charging network mainly serves as supplementary charging facilities, enabling EVs to top up their batteries to complete their journeys when necessary.  Therefore, potential buyers should consider charging arrangements before buying EVs.

To improve the charging efficiency, EPD has progressively upgraded standard chargers to medium chargers in the past few years (as compared with standard chargers, medium chargers can reduce the charging time by up to 60%).  The two power companies and the commercial sector will also progressively upgrade their existing public standard chargers to medium chargers and install multi-standard quick chargers.  EV suppliers have also been pro-active in adding their EV charging facilities for their EV models at public venues.

With the steady growth in the number of EVs, there are private companies in the market that provide one-stop EV charging service, including installation of charging facilities and provision of charging service, at the EV owners’ car parks.  To facilitate EV owners, some EV charging service providers also provide real-time information on the availability of their public EV chargers and reservation of their EV chargers through mobile Apps.

As at the end of June 2021, there are 4,362 EV chargers for public use including 2,200 medium chargers in Hong Kong and 702 quick chargers in Hong Kong, covering all 18 districts.

Regarding support to EV users, a hotline (3757 6222) was set up at the EPD to provide information and technical support to interested parties in setting up EV chargers at car parks.  Besides, guidelines have been issued on the arrangements and technical requirements in setting up EV chargers. The two power companies have also launched one-stop services to EV owners who intend to install charging facilities at their parking spaces. This includes site inspection, provision of technical advices, inspection of completed charging installation and connection of the power supply.

Please see below the following information related to charging facilities:

1. Guidelines for Setting-up Standard Charging Facilities for Electric Vehicle at Car Parks
2. Guidelines for Individual Owners and Tenants of Car Parking Spaces for Setting up EV Chargers
3. Locations of EV Chargers for Public Access 
4. Technical Guidelines for Electric Vehicle Charging-enabling for Car Parks of New Building Developments
5. Electric Vehicle Charging Facilities of Internal Transport Facilities in Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (issued by Planning Department, see para 7.2.7 to 7.2.11)
6. Technical Guidelines on Charging Facilities for Electric Vehicles (issued by Electrical and Mechanical Services Department)

News and Events

Study Report

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Is there a breach of land lease conditions and deed if paid EV charging services are provided in the building?

A1: In general, the provision of paid EV charging facilities associated with ancillary car parking spaces required to be provided under the lease would not contravene the lease conditions. However, each case has to be considered on its own depending on the lease conditions and the individual circumstances. For enquiries, please contact relevant District Lands Office of the LandsD at the address and hotline as set out in LandsD’s website:
http://www.landsd.gov.hk/en/about/enquiries.htm

Q2: Does the Government plan to levy fees on public EV charging services?

A2: Currently, EV charging services in government car parks are free of charge. This is intended to provide financial incentives in the initial stage of EV development to encourage early adoption. Yet, with the growing EV uptake, it is needed to marketise the EV charging services so as to promote their sustainable development in the long run, and avoid abuse of the chargers. In this connection, we have embarked on the preparation work, hardware and software upgrade, etc. for fee charging, with a view to imposing EV charging fees in government car parks from around 2025.

Q3: How many EV charging facilities are available for public use in Hong Kong nowadays? Where are they located?

A3: At present, there are thousands of EV chargers in Hong Kong provided by the public and private sectors for public use. They include medium chargers and quick chargers covering all 18 districts in Hong Kong. For the quantities and locations of those chargers, please refer to this link.

Q4: What are the details about the additional fire safety requirements by the Fire Services Department (FSD) for car parking facilities installed with EV charging facilities since 1 September 2020?  Under the additional requirements, is it necessary to install the Fireman's Emergency Switch for the EV charging facilities if the car parking facilities have been equipped with sprinkler system?

A4: For all initial building plan submissions since 1 September 2020, installation of EV charging facilities for car parking facilities shall meet the additional fire safety requirements of the FSD.  Under the additional requirements, a Fireman's Emergency Switch shall be provided to cut off the power supply of all EV charging facilities within the car parking facilities no matter a sprinkler system has been installed or not.

Please click this link about the fire safety requirements and the circular.  For further enquiries, please contact FSD's Senior Divisional Officer (New Projects) at 3971 4600. 

Further Information

For further information, please contact us at:

Email: ev@epd.gov.hk

EV Hotline: 3757 6222