by Dongbeom Choo
-Growing industry of electric vehicles
Electric car industry is one of the most rapidly developing industries around the world. Numerous world’s leading countries including the United States, Japan, and Germany have been putting a lot of time and effort nurturing their electric car industries (Mock, and Yang, 2014). Hong Kong is no exception. In fact, it is one of the largest market for electric car industries in the world (Environmental Protection Department, 2015). Last year, Tesla Model S, Tesla Motors’ all-electric four-door car, ranked first in the number of cars sold in HK last year (Soo, 2016).
-Advantages/benefits of electric vehicles
Growing demand for electric cars is no coincidence. Electric cars actually bring a lot of benefits to the society as a whole. First, it emits less pollutants (UN, 2014). Ever since public awareness grew on environmental issues, governments of different countries took their own initiatives to reduce the gas emission. Part of this effort is Kyoto protocol. Kyoto protocol, an international agreement that binds its party members to reduce green gas emission gradually, entered into force in June of 2005 (UNFCC, 2014). Although China and one of its special administrative region, Hong Kong, are not bound to this protocol, they have fostered their domestic electric vehicle industries significantly starting from 2008 (Bradsher, 2009).
-Efforts made by Hong Kong government
Hong Kong’s land population density as of 2014 stood at 6,690 persons per square kilometer making HK the most densely populated place in the world (GovHK, 2015). And for the residents of the world’s most densely populated city, both the noise and air pollutants produced by conventional automobiles pose great threats on their mental and physical health (Bradsher, and Kieth, 2009). Due to this special circumstance HK and its people are in, Hong Kong government made some serious effort in promoting more electric cars in the city. Here are some of the measures taken by Hong Kong government’s Environmental Protection Department.
1 “First Registration Tax for EVs is waived till end March 2017. Furthermore, enterprises which procure EVs are allowed 100% profits tax deduction for the capital expenditure on EVs in the first year of procurement.”
2 “A HK$300 million Pilot Green Transport Fund has been put in place since March 2011 for application by transport operators and non-profit-making organizations providing services to their clients and goods vehicle owners, encouraging them to try out innovative green and low carbon transport technologies (including EVs).”
Furthermore, starting from April 2011, concessions on gross floor area were granted only to the developers who install sufficient amount of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. And in June 2011, the Hong Kong government amended its planning guidelines for new buildings to recommend 30% of private car parking spaces in Hong Kong be implemented with the chargers for electric automobiles (Cheng, 2016).
-Is this enough then?
With the effort put and the measures taken by the Hong Kong government, Hong Kong has become the most attractive market for global electric vehicle manufacturers. As of August 2016, there are 6167 electric vehicles rolling in the city of Hong Kong. The number grew significantly from less than 100 in 2010 (GovHK, 2015). But what is truly crucial when it comes to attracting more people to ride electric cars, is having enough necessary infrastructure, e.g. charging infrastructure. Although HK has the most number of charging stations per an electric vehicle, it is far from enough (Environment Protection Department, 2015).
Raymond Cheng clearly depicts how much effort there are yet to be made by the government through his article published at South China Morning Post on October 6th 2016. He writes, “A random look at the car park at Pacific Place in Admiralty during a weekday lunchtime shows the shortage of charging stations. All four standard charging docks were occupied, as were the four Tesla fast charging stations, and there was a queue of Teslas waiting.”
-What should and can be done?
Professor Chau Kwok-tong, an electric car guru from Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Hong Kong suggests that the government should make it obligatory for the owners to have charging stations in their buildings (Cheng, 2016).
But implementing a new law should be a gradual process and the interest of every party involved should be considered. In order to do so, I suggest we come up with a quota system that requires all the buildings to have certain percentage of their parking spaces installed with charging facilities. We can gradually increase the percentage throughout several years. This will yield the developers some leniency to keep up with the new law and some time to wait until the number of electric cars in Hong Kong grows enough for the developers to feel the necessity. Ontario is a great example. Starting from 2015, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation had 5% of the parking places in Ontario to have chargers for electric cars. They are planning to increase the percentage to 20% by the end of 2025 (Ministry of Transportation Ontario, 2015). But we always need to take the carrot-and-stick approach. In order to make it more reasonable and attractive for the developers to install more charging facilities, Hong Kong government can provide financial subsidy to the developers who meet the standards set by the new law.
The owner’s association, group of people who owns the buildings in Hong Kong, argues that electric cars only make up a limited percentage of total automobiles and there is no obligation for them to waste their money just for the good of a few (Home Affairs Department, 2016). This is exactly why we need the law that forces, rather than just recommends, enough charging infrastructure. Yes, implementing new facilities will cost a lot of money for the developers. But increasing pollution, both of noice and air, will cost even more on a societal level. This city needs more electric cars and the only way to have more electric cars in this city is to have more charging infrastructure.
Bradsher, K. (2009). China Vies to Be World’s Leader in Electric Cars. The New York Times. Retrieved 9 Oct, 2016, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/business/global/02electric.html
Cheng, R. (2016). Hong Kong’s electric car owners still stuck in the slow lane. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 Oct 2016, from
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2025762/hong-kongs-electric-car-owners-still-stuck-slow
Environmental Protection Department,. (2015). Promotion of electric vehicles. Retrieved 9 Oct 2016, from
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/air/prob_solutions/promotion_ev.html
GovHK,. (2015). Hong Kong Fact Sheeets. Retrieved 9 Oct 2016, from
http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/population.pdf
Home Affairs Department. (2016). Law Enforcement. Retrieved 9 Oct 2016, from
http://www.buildingmgt.gov.hk/en/whats_new/2_15.htm
Soo, Z. (2016). With Tesla’s Model S now Hong Kong’s top-selling sedan, chief Elon Musk predicts city to become world leader in electric vehicles. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 Oct 2016, from
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1905236/teslas-model-s-now-hong-kongs-top-selling-sedan-chief-elon-musk
Ministry of Transportation Ontario. (2015). Regulations on the number of chargers. Retrieved 9 Oct 2016, from
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/vehicles/electric/charging-electric-vehicle.shtml
Mock, P. and Fang, Z. (2014), Driving Electrification: A Global Comparison of Fiscal Incentive Policy for Electric Vehicles. Retrieved Oct 9th 2016, from
http://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_EV-fiscal-incentives_20140506.pdf
UN,. (2014). Transport Action Plan: Urban Electric Mobility Initiative. Retrieved 9 Oct 2016, from http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/09/TRANSPORT-Action-Plan-UEMI.pdf
UNFCC,. (2014). Kyoto Protocol. Retrieved 9 Oct 2016, from
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php
Filed under: Academic Year 2016 - 2017 
