Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Saturday, Jun 03, 2023

Hong Kong targets greater uptake of electric taxis by introducing more models

Hong Kong targets greater uptake of electric taxis by introducing more models

Environment and Ecology Bureau says government has been liaising with manufacturers about introducing new models to add to single type currently available.

More models of fully electric taxis will be introduced in Hong Kong later this year, authorities have revealed, offering greater options for an industry that currently only operates five such vehicles in the city.

A spokeswoman for the Environment and Ecology Bureau told the Post the government had been liaising with manufacturers about the e-taxi models they could provide. Currently only one type is offered in Hong Kong, which is built by Shenzhen’s BYD Auto.

“Several manufacturers are preparing to produce e-taxi models suitable for Hong Kong later this year,” the spokeswoman said.

“With more taxi models available in the market, fair market competition can be promoted, driving down the market price. The trade can test out the models that are suitable for their operations.”

The government’s reluctance to introduce more types of the vehicles, a lack of charging facilities and networks, and insufficient incentives have been blamed for the industry’s slow transition to e-taxis.

Official figures showed that by the end of April this year, there were only five fully electric taxis in Hong Kong, accounting for less than 1 per cent of the 18,163 vehicles operating in the trade. Authorities have so far only approved the trial of 26 e-taxis under the New Energy Transport Fund subsidy scheme, including 23 new-generation vehicles. Two of those subsidised urban e-taxis have commenced operation since September 2022 and January this year, respectively.

An earlier pilot scheme starting in 2013 ended in failure, with cabbies complaining of a shortage of charging facilities and long powering up times.

Under the government’s road map on the use of electric vehicles, new purchases of petrol cars will be phased out by 2035 with the ultimate goal of the city being carbon neutral by 2050.

The government is expected to reveal its timeline and concrete measures for adopting commercial electric vehicles in 2025, while Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu set out in his policy address last year a medium-term target of introducing about 3,000 e-taxis by the end of 2027.

To further promote the adoption of e-taxis, the authorities have proposed a loan scheme providing a 100 per cent guarantee for the trade to switch to the vehicles at a loan cap of HK$350,000 (US$44,710) per vehicle under a 10-year repayment period. The scheme is expected to be launched in the middle of this year.

However, industry leaders have called for authorities to put in place further support measures and more options of electric vehicle models to encourage operators to make the switch.

Taxi operator Wong Wing-chung, chairman of Northwest Area Taxi Drivers & Operators Association.


Taxi operator Wong Wing-chung, chairman of Northwest Area Taxi Drivers & Operators Association, said the government needed to introduce more e-taxi model options if it wanted to see more companies choosing the vehicles. He urged officials to consider designs that had swappable batteries to supplement regular charging.

Wong said his attempts to use e-taxis fell through twice between 2013 and 2017 because of poor battery performance and long charging times, among other energy-related factors. The failures resulted in losses of more than HK$500,000 in addition to lost income, he said.

“The lack of e-taxi models and charging facilities has deterred operators from switching to e-taxis. The government should be open minded and allow e-taxis with swappable batteries to operate in Hong Kong, which can reduce the need to build supercharging stations at a high cost,” he said.

There were only 5,434 chargers in public and private locations at the end of last year, making for a ratio of almost one for every 10 vehicles. They comprised 2,983 medium-speed chargers that take about three to four hours and cost HK$30 to HK$50 for an electric car to be fully charged, and 998 faster ones that require 45 minutes to an hour and cost about HK$100.

Wong also warned of the risks of the 100 per cent guarantee loan scheme, saying taxi operators could still face bankruptcy if they failed to make the repayments as a result of underperformance of the vehicles.

Chau Kwok-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association.


Chau Kwok-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association, said the loan scheme might not be attractive to the industry as the city still had a shortage of charging facilities for commercial vehicles.

“The problem is there is a lack of superchargers for e-taxis in Hong Kong, which means they need to be fully charged twice a day for around-the-clock operation,” he said.

The spokeswoman for the Environment and Ecology Bureau said a contractor would provide a trial of a rapid charging service for e-taxis this year. “The contractor will set up no less than 10 dedicated quick chargers for e-taxis on Lantau Island and in Sai Kung, which will be put into service in phases starting from the third quarter of this year,” she said.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
Close
0:00
0:00
The driver has been described by authorities as a 21-year-old woman from Tallahassee
Joe Biden falls at the Air Force Graduation
America's Got Talent…
Elon Musk has been showered with praise by the Chinese public during his trip to China
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
Elon Musk Meets Chinese Finance Minister in Beijing
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Chinese fighter jet buzzes U.S. Air Force spy plane over South China Sea
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
WATCH THIS: democracy in Russia is so bad!
Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Steve Jobs introducing Apple's iPhone, exactly 16 years ago.
Banking Behemoth vs Ex-Boss: The PMorgan-Epstein Entanglement
China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The official tapes of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll battery (rape) and defamation case have been released.
King Charles III being crowned.
Newly released video of Donald Trump’s rape trial deposition:
Video: Ukraine MP Punches Russian Representative At Global Meet
El Paso mayor has declared a state of emergency
Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones in an attempt to kill Putin
Dutch court orders man who fathered 550 kids to stop donating sperm
Kim Kardashian Lookalike Christina Ashten Dies Of Cardiac Arrest, Hours After Plastic Surgery
Samsung has banned employees from using generative AI services such as ChatGPT
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
×