- The move comes after a previous target of 5,000 station installations was met last year, with 5,300 EV chargers installed by September 2022 as the state aims to halve carbon emissions by 2035.
- The region also introduced tax breaks in 2018 for EV users, incentivising consumers and companies to switch to low-carbon transport.
Authorities in Hong Kong have raised the target for the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in government buildings to 7,000 before 2025, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. In a document submitted to the Legislative Council on Monday, the government pledged to provide additional parking spaces with supporting EV chargers as part of measures to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel-powered and hybrid vehicles.
The move comes after a previous target of 5,000 station installations was met last year, with 5,300 EV chargers installed by September 2022. This includes 2,200 charging ports located in government facilities. All new government buildings will also have EV chargers installed as default.
Other environmental measures outlined in the document include trailing hydrogen fuel cell buses and heavy vehicles this year and testing electric ferries by 2024. Conducting trials for at least 180 electric commercial vehicles and introducing approximately 700 electric buses and 3,000 electric taxis are also planned to commence by 2027.
Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan, unveiled in 2021, set a target to halve the special administrative region’s carbon emissions by 2035 from 2005 levels to reach net zero by 2050 eventually. Last year, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-Chiu said the government would stop registering new fossil fuel and hybrid private cars by 2035 or earlier. The region also introduced tax breaks in 2018 for EV users, incentivising consumers and companies to switch to low-carbon transport.