E-car parking in Hong Kong badly enforced, auto group charges
While e-vehicle owners claim mere encouragement of policy renders green objectives ‘toothless’, government defends it as efficient use of resources
The policy that gives priority to electric vehicles at car parks with chargers has been branded a “toothless tiger” after the government revealed it would merely encourage rather than enforce punishment for petrol vehicle drivers occupying charging spaces at private car parks.
An e-vehicle association warned that, without fines at both public and private car parks, the government’s efforts to promote using e-cars to reduce roadside emissions would be futile.
“If the charging spots policy remains as it is now, unprotected and toothless, then nothing will change,” Locky Law, Tesla owner representative of electric vehicle group Charged Hong Kong, said. Automaker Tesla promotes the use of electric cars.
Failure to address the issue could mean that gross floor area concessions are being exploited
As of October, there were 6,860 e-vehicles for road use in Hong Kong, and 1,400 chargers for public use in 259 public and private car parks. Those figures compare with 3,500 e-cars with 1,200 chargers late last year.