As Hong Kong charts a course to achieve zero-carbon emissions by 2050, the recent rapid uptake in electric vehicles (EVs) has highlighted the city’s urgent need for charging and maintenance infrastructure.

Riding high on initiatives and undertakings for Hong Kong’s shift towards transport electrification, lawmakers and industry experts have called for more concrete efforts to navigate the local new energy vehicle landscape and make the city’s EV roadmap hit the accelerator.

With the Hong Kong Special Administrative region government taking steps through EV purchase subsidies and infrastructure in the latest Policy Address, Gary Ng Cheuk-yan, senior economist of thematic research for Asia Pacific at Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, says he believes that whether it is sufficient depends on the goal.

“If the target is to increase EV sales in proportion to 50 percent or above, what we see may not be enough,” Ng said.

EVs took off in Hong Kong with the introduction of the One-for-One Replacement Scheme in 2018 that encouraged private car owners to scrap and de-register their existing fuel-powered vehicle for a brand-new EV.

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Since then, the milestone year of 2022 saw local sales of EVs eclipse that of petrol cars for the first time. A total of 19,975 new EVs were sold, accounting for over 53 percent of the city’s private car sales in 2022, the highest such rate in Asia and third highest rate globally after Norway and Iceland, according to a report from US-based global real-estate advisory group CBRE.

Despite being a small market, Hong Kong is home to 100,400 EVs as of this August, up from 10,670 in 2018. The ratio of EVs to total licensed private cars in Hong Kong soared to 10.9 percent as of August, from 1.9 percent in 2018, as per data from Environment Protection Department and Transport Department.

Gary Chan Hak-kan, legislative council member and chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, noted that the sheer number of registered EVs, 98 percent of which are private vehicles, indicates the wide adoption in the region. This makes government focus more on public transport, setting aside HK$750 million ($96.5 million) to subsidize the taxi trade and franchised bus companies for purchasing EVs, as outlined in the Policy Address.

“A good starting point is to increase the incentives for using EVs in public transport, which is one of the biggest road users and easier to coordinate,” Ng said.

But either for public transport or commercial vehicles, “the pressing issue ahead is the need to shift to EVs, primarily due to limitations in charging capacity, as it takes several hours to fully charge an EV”, Chan observed.

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Hong Kong’s high density makes EVs perfect for short-distance commutes, but it also makes building adequate charging stations more challenging, Ng noted. “Providing affordable and efficient charging facilities is key to promoting EVs, especially with the limited parking space and the time needed to charge.”

As of this June, the Transport Department revealed there are 8,728 EV chargers for public use, with a total of 200,000 EV-charging parking spaces expected to be available by mid-2027.

Yet only 1,511 out of 8,728 EV chargers are quick chargers, and “quick chargers take around 30 minutes, while medium and slow chargers take between six and eight hours to reach 80 percent charge”, reckoned Chan, who recommends upgrading current chargers to fast chargers.

As HK$300 million is earmarked in the Policy Address for a new scheme that provides subsidies to the private sector for installing quick-charging facilities, Chan said the government has shifted its focus from households to enterprises, providing incentives for the private sector to install EV chargers.

However, “installing private EV chargers presents a technical challenge in a city such as Hong Kong, partly owing to the dense and fragmented ownership of buildings compared to the single-owned landed properties present in many other countries,” CBRE wrote in the report.

“Over 90 percent of Hong Kong’s private residential buildings are stratified, underlining the complexity involved in addressing vested interests and public resource distribution,” CBRE added.

Lawmaker Michael Luk Chung-hung pointed to a bigger story of challenges getting in the way of the city’s electrification journey.

While the percentage of electric private cars among all newly registered private cars, or the so-called take-up rate, surged to roughly 57 percent this July from 6.3 percent in 2019, it marks a slowdown from 78 percent over the first quarter of the year, according to Luk.

He attributed the growth deceleration to several stumbling blocks such as the high cost of charging and ambiguous pricing, along with a shortage of charging facilities that vary in quality and lack convenience. Charging costs at all pay-to-use stations in Hong Kong are calculated by kilowatt-hour, with exact prices varying base on factors including location and configuration.

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Though the first registration tax concessions for EVs under the “One-for-One Replacement” scheme has been extended for two years up to 31 March 2026, it comes with a reduction of 40 percent. This further makes EVs less attractive compared with hybrid or fuel-powered vehicles, Luk explained.

Having seen the absence of a standard fee for EV charging, Chan recommended the government establish reference standards for charging fees.

Ng advised the government could also consider providing more perks for EV owners, including lower highway and tunnel fees, tax concessions and exclusive parking spots.

Chan said he holds out hope for new fuel alternatives, such as hydrogen vehicles, which could spell a potential opportunity to achieve zero emissions in public transport and commercial vehicles.

“Hong Kong is well positioned to benefit from the Chinese mainland’s status as one of the largest producers of hydrogen, which could provide a stable and economical supply,” he noted.

Chan revealed the government is currently working on this front, in anticipation that more hydrogen vehicles, especially for public transport and larger vehicles, would soon hit the road.