Home-grown electric car hits city's roads
The city's home-developed electric car hit the streets yesterday at a price of HK$97,000, with the manufacturer predicting success despite licensing restrictions, a top speed of 64km/h and a lack of air-conditioning.
The two-seater city car, a joint venture between Polytechnic University and the Italian design house Giugiaro, made its maiden journey in Hong Kong a year after its debut in Europe, where about 50 units have been sold.
A dozen MyCars have been sold locally to fleet owners such as the MTR Corp and the Airport Authority.
Peter Sun Kwok-wah, chairman of maker EuAuto, said he was hopeful of more sales if the government established a citywide network of charging points. 'I am confident electric vehicles will be popular but it's essential that the government builds enough charging points,' he said. 'Nobody is going to buy them if they can't charge them on the road.'
The European market for such cars was better developed because of well-established charging points across the continent, he said.
EuAuto chief executive officer and general manager Chung Sin-ling agreed, saying: 'I hope the government will help develop electric cars. If your baby behaved well and got several awards overseas, you would support it for sure, wouldn't you?'
MyCar was approved for private registration in August but only on roads with a speed limit of up to 50km/h, severely limiting its use.
An upgraded version costing HK$150,000 with air-conditioning and a top speed of 80km/h is due early next year. It will be able to climb a 30 per cent slope, compared to 20 per cent for the current model.
Able to use any household electricity socket, MyCar can run for 112 kilometres on a full charge, which takes eight hours, and needs only 90 minutes to reach an 80 per cent charge.
Customers can choose between lithium and lead-acid batteries. The better-performing lithium battery costs three to five times as much, but EuAuto says its price will gradually fall as demand rises.
The government has bought 10 of Mitsubishi's electric car, the iMiEV - with a range of 160 kilometres and top speed of 130km/h - which are expected to be delivered by year end at a cost of nearly HK$500,000 each.
The Airport Authority has introduced MyCars to its fleet of 78 vehicles on the airfield as part of a pilot project to reduce carbon emissions.
The interior and exterior have been modified with a microphone and a yellow light on top.
One has a seat only for the driver, with the passenger space taken over by a panel of control buttons.
The cars will carry an aircraft marshaller, who signals to the pilot when and where to taxi or park, and sometimes shows the pilots the way to the gate where passengers are to disembark.
The deputy director of airport operations, Ng Chi-kee, said they would be fit for most basic work done at the airfield.
'They mesh with our needs because most drivers on the airfield work alone and we don't need a saloon's space,' he said. 'Its rather low maximum speed will be useful in preventing the drivers from speeding.
'So far I've been pretty impressed by them but we'll have to see more thoroughly how they perform their tasks before we can decide whether or not to buy more of these.'
The authority was making a list of its ageing vehicles and would replace them with vehicles that were less harmful to the environment, he said.
