Is Hong Kong’s EV charging infrastructure ready for the EV inevitable?
With electric vehicle (EV) adoption acceleratingacross the globe and governments committing to green mobility, the question is no longer if Hong Kong will transition, but whether its EV charging network can support the electric vehicle revolution that’s coming. While enthusiasm and policy targets abound, the city's EV charging infrastructure faces a test. As a strong advocate for and investor in smart mobility solutions, MTR Lab believes embracing the coming EV tide and helping EV drivers overcome issues (the top being range anxiety) will require unprecedented cooperation across industries. United in building out reliable, distributed charging access, we can unlock our potential for a low-carbon transportation future.
Governments worldwide – including in Hong Kong – are making bold moves and working towards carbon neutrality targets. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a rapid transformation unfold in the EV landscape, both globally and here in Hong Kong. The city is actively participating in this global EV evolution and is proactively addressing the impact of transportation on greenhouse gas emissions.
The number of total registered electric private cars in Hong Kong increased by over 450% from 13,447 in 2019 to 74,896 in 2023. In the year 2023 alone, there were 28,541 newly registered electric private cars in the city, according to Transport Department data (Source 1). If we assume that Hong Kong continues to add an average of 28,000 newly registered electric private cars every year in the next few years, the total number of EVs in the city may surpass 200,000 by 2028.
The EV opportunity is promising, but the infrastructure needs bolstering
The key stakeholders who can drive the future of the EV industry in Hong Kong include the government, automobile companies/EV manufacturers, power companies, technology firms, property developers, property management companies, car park and charging station operators, and EV charging equipment providers. This ecosystem is powerful and must work together to build out a robust and accessible EV charging network.
The Hong Kong government has laid out a roadmap to encourage increased EV adoption. To further facilitate EV popularisation, the government aims to increase the number of public and private parking spaces with charging infrastructure to about 200,000 by mid-2027. However, the current public EV charging infrastructure still lags behind. As of March 2024, Hong Kong had around 8,056 public chargers for over 83,000 registered EVs, a ratio of roughly 1 public charger for every 10 EVs (Source 2). We believe more public EV charging infrastructure is needed to meet this growing EV adoption and effectively address range anxiety.
The uneven distribution of these public chargers, with some areas having better coverage than others, can lead to various inconveniences. To fully realise Hong Kong's EV potential, the EV charging infrastructure needs to be more extensive and evenly distributed across the city.
To support the use of EVs by public transport, which is part of the government’s current EV roadmap (Source 2), chargers need to be accessible and fast-charging to accommodate the nature of commercial usage.
UAS’s Jove: Propelling EV potential through collaboration
To overcome the EV charging infrastructure gap, a collaborative, ecosystem-wide approach involving all major stakeholders is crucial. MTR Lab’s subsidiary UAS is here to collaborate with partners across the EV charging value chain through its new solution, Jove. Jove is an EV charging and smart parking digital platform that offers convenient features for drivers such as charger availability checking, contactless entry and exit of car parks, guidance to parked cars, and auto payment, aimed at making the EV charging experience seamless.
Building a cohesive ecosystem for a smarter, greener future
As a 'brand agnostic' platform, the plan for Jove is to connect and support different partners in the EV charging value chain, including landlords, property management service providers, car park operators, and EV charger providers, to collectively provide a broad charging network covering diverse locations more consistently in Hong Kong, thus bringing greater convenience to drivers and alleviating the EV pain points shared above.
The future of transportation in Hong Kong is undoubtedly electric
At MTR Lab, we are determined to support Hong Kong in achieving its carbon neutrality targets. Realising this vision will require great collective action that is built to deliver results. We encourage like-minded partners in the EV ecosystem to collaborate and co-create, powering a greener future together. UAS is committed to driving this transformation forward, one milestone at a time.
To learn more about Jove: www.mtrlab.com.hk/en/innovative-solutions/Jove
To enjoy seamless EV charging experience of Jove, download it here: www.jove.com.hk/en/download
Sources:
- “Vehicle Registration, Licensing and Inspection Statistics”, Transport Department, 2024
- “Promotion of Electric Vehicles”, Environmental Protection Department, April 2024
- “The Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address”, the Hong Kong SAR Government, October 2023
- “Trends in charging infrastructure”, International Energy Agency, 2023
- “LCQ8: Promoting the popularisation of electric vehicles”, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region – Press Releases, January 2024
