LCQ15: Promoting the popularisation of electric vehicles
22.2.2023

Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (February 22): Question: In 2018, the Government introduced a "One-for-One Replacement" Scheme (Replacement Scheme) under which a vehicle owner who scraps his/her old private car (PC) and purchases a new electric PC (e-PC) may enjoy a higher first registration tax concession. Regarding the promotion of the popularisation of electric vehicles (EVs), will the Government inform this Council: (1) of (i) the number of newly registered e-PCs and, among them, the number of those registered under the Replacement Scheme, and (ii) the percentage of newly registered e-PCs in the total number of newly registered EVs, in each of the past five years; (2) of the percentage of e-PCs in the total number of PCs in each of the past five years; (3) whether it has comprehensively assessed the functions served by the Replacement Scheme in the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles (EV Roadmap); (4) given that while the EV Roadmap has set out the target to cease new registration of fuel propelled PCs in 2035 or earlier, the Replacement Scheme will expire on March 31 next year, whether the Government will extend the Replacement Scheme so as to continue the promotion of EV popularisation; if so, of the details; if not, whether it has assessed the impact of the expiry of the Replacement Scheme on the public's interest in purchasing e-PCs and the progress of EV popularisation; (5) whether it knows the respective numbers of EVs currently owned and in use by the following organisations, as well as the numbers of EV chargers (with a tabulated breakdown by type (i.e. standard, medium and quick)) in their car parks: the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Hospital Authority, the Urban Renewal Authority, the Hong Kong Housing Society, and the MTR Corporation Limited; (6) given that the Government has pointed out in the EV Roadmap that it will explore the gradual conversion of existing petrol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) filling stations to quick charging stations in the medium to long term, of the addresses of petrol and LPG filling stations in the territory at present, and the expiry dates of their land leases (set out in a table); and (7) given that some members of the public have considered that the progress for the vetting and approval processes under the "EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme" is slow, whether it has compiled statistics on the average time taken for the completion of installation of EV charging-enabling infrastructure from the submission of application by an applicant? Reply: President, Currently, carbon emissions from transport make up around 20 per cent of total carbon emissions in Hong Kong. To tie in with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality before 2050 in Hong Kong, developing green transport is instrumental in achieving the goal. The Government has been striving to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs), with a view to reducing the emission of air pollutants. However, the present cost of owning an EV is still generally higher than owning a traditional fuel-propelled vehicle. As such, the Government has been encouraging citizens to switch to EVs, while at the same time avoiding vehicular growth, through various measures in recent years. An example is the provision of first registration tax (FRT) concessions arrangement for EVs, which includes the "One-for-One Replacement" Scheme. At present, electric private cars (e-PCs) are eligible for a FRT concession of up to $97,500, while private car (PC) owners who arrange to scrap and de-register their own eligible old PC and then first register a new e-PC can enjoy a higher FRT concession under the "One-for-One Replacement" Scheme. The concession cap is $287,500. The concessions arrangement is in effect until March 31, 2024. In consultation with the Transport and Logistics Bureau and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, my reply to the question raised by the Hon Chan Hak-kan is as follows: (1) Relevant figures are listed as follows: Year Number of PC first registration (a) Number of e-PC first registration (b) The proportion of e-PC first registration to PC first registration (%) (c) = (b) / (a) Number of e-PC first registration under the "One-for-One" Scheme (d) The proportion of e-PC first registration under the "One-for-One" Scheme to e-PC first registration (%) (e) = (d) / (b) 2018 42 287 471 1.1% 321 68.1% 2019 38 309 2 423 6.3% 2 159 89.1% 2020 37 036 4 595 12.4% 4 264 92.8% 2021 39 309 9 583 24.4% 9 317 97.2% 2022 37 478 19 795 52.8% 19 365 97.8% (2) Relevant figures are listed as follows: Year Number of registered e-PCs (a) Number of registered PCs (b) The proportion of the number of registered e-PCs to that of registered PCs (%) (c ) = (a) / (b) 2018 11 080 617 683 1.8% 2019 13 447 628 230 2.1% 2020 17 998 651 358 2.8% 2021 27 358 656 973 4.2% 2022 46 565 649 540 7.2% (3) and (4) The Government had announced the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles (EV Roadmap) in March 2021, setting out in a concrete manner the long-term policy objectives and plans to promote the adoption of EVs and their associated supporting facilities. Major strategies include to cease new registration of fuel-propelled PCs in 2035 or earlier, to promote the use of e-PCs and electric commercial vehicles (e-CVs), to expand the EV charging network, and to create a supporting environment conducive for popularisation of EVs etc., in order to provide stakeholders with sufficient time to prepare for the transition to EVs. In the meantime, the Government will continue to make good use of the existing FRT concession arrangements for EVs and the "One-for-One Replacement" Scheme (which took effect from February 28, 2018) to promote the transition to EVs without stimulating vehicular growth. In the EV Roadmap, we set the target of a periodic review roughly every five years, which allows us to look into the progress made in EV popularisation and development of other new energy vehicles in a timely manner, and will offer an opportunity to examine the overall strategies and targets accordingly. In view of the rapid development of EV technologies, the Government has decided to make adjustment to review the progress of the popularisation of EV and the development of other new energy vehicles periodically around every three years, in contrast to our earlier plan of every five years, so as to evaluate and improve our overall strategies and objectives in a timely manner. Since the promulgation of the EV Roadmap, the feedback from society has been positive. Driven by various government policies, the percentage of e-PCs among all newly registered PCs has soared in recent years from 6.3 per cent in 2019, 12.4 per cent in 2020, 24.4 per cent in 2021 to 52.8 per cent in 2022, representing that more than one out of every two newly registered PCs is electric. It is roughly estimated that for every kilometre travelled, the carbon dioxide emission of a pure battery EV is 200 grams less than that of a traditional fuel-propelled vehicle. To tie in with the target of a periodic review around every three years, together with the end of the current concessions arrangement on March 31, 2024, we will review related arrangements and announce the results in a timely manner. (5) As at the end of 2022, the number of EVs as well as the number of standard, medium and quick EV chargers for their car parks owned and in use by the Housing Authority, the Hospital Authority, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), the Housing Society and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRC) are listed as follows: Government and public organisations Number of EVs Number of EV chargers Standard Medium Quick The Housing Authority 4 1711 57 8 The Hospital Authority 2 232 47 10 The URA 0 16 101 12 The Housing Society 1 189 92 0 MTRC 20 6 68 32 (6) At present, there are about 180 petrol filling stations (PFS) including non-dedicated liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) filling stations in Hong Kong. All of them are set up on sites permitted by the Government for such purposes. Under the current policy, the lease term of PFS sites granted by the Government through public tender is 21 years. Under the staggering arrangements for the tendering of PFS sites, there are currently 20 sites pending for retendering, and the land leases for the remaining PFS sites will expire progressively in the future. The tender records of PFS sites have been uploaded on the Lands Department's webpage ( www.landsd.gov.hk/en/resources/land-info-stat/land-sale/land-sale-records.html ). As for LPG filling stations in Hong Kong, there are in total 70 LPG filling stations in Hong Kong, of which 12 are dedicated LPG filling stations and the remaining 58 are petrol-cum-LPG filling stations. The locations of LPG filling stations which are in operation are listed on the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department website ( www.emsd.gov.hk/en/gas_safety/lpg_vehicle_scheme/publications/general/location_of_lpg_filling_station/index.html ). The public can conduct search of land records of various LPG filling stations and their lease terms with their addresses through internal search services, or counter search and self-service search services provided by the Land Registry. Please browse the website of the Land Registry ( www.landreg.gov.hk/en/services/services_b_1.htm ) for further details. (7) The Government has launched the EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme (EHSS) in October 2020 to promote the installation of EV charging-enabling infrastructure (EVCEI) in car parks of existing private residential buildings. The response to the EHSS has been overwhelming. The total subsidy amount sought by the over 300 applications received as at mid-May 2021 has already exceeded the original ceiling of $2 billion under the EHSS. In this connection, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) subsequently suspended the processing of applications received after mid-May 2021, and put these applications on waiting list. EPD had also notified these applicants of the related arrangements, and made announcement on the website dedicated for the scheme. Apart from cases in which supplementary information has not been provided as required, the EPD has completed in 2022 the processing of all applications received before mid-May 2021. The EHSS has been further injected an additional funding of $1.5 billion in the 2022-23 budget, and has been extended to the 2027-28 financial year. After reviewing the details of execution of the scheme, the EPD has resumed the assessment and approval of applications on the waiting list in August 2022. We expect to complete the assessment and approval of about 300 applications received so far in 2023. EPD will review related processing procedures and enhance the arrangements, with a view to further shortening the time required for the assessment and approval of applications. After an application for subsidy has been approved by the EPD, the applicant must arrange to engage consultant and contractor for the installation works of EVCEI through public tendering exercise. In this regard, time is needed for preparing the tendering work, tackling technical problems relevant to the installation works, and liaison with carpark owners to reach consensus over the detailed design. The amount of time required depends on the actual circumstances of each case. The cases approved by the EPD, in which installation works have been completed, mainly involve car parks of smaller scale and entailing fewer technical problems. For these cases, the time between approval of application and completion of installation works ranges from around 18 to 30 months.