Goodbye electric vehicle tax waiver, hello petrol burners; five options for Hong Kong’s drivers
Electric cars became more expensive in Hong Kong on April 1, giving car buyers cause for a rethink. When the government capped first registration tax waivers on EVs, at HK$97,000, (US$12,484) it arguably gave local drivers a licence to guzzle gas, guilt-free, and in less expensive cars. So, here are five fossil-fuelled alternatives you can rev instead.
Due to the new tax system, the option-free price of the new Tesla X SUV has risen from HK$700,000 to over HK$1.2 million, which is enough to send EV refugees across Queen’s Road East to the comfort of Infiniti Hong Kong. Its plush QX70S 3.7 AWD (HK$569,800) is one of the most opulent crossovers in town, with black lacquer or maple trim and a neat eight-inch colour touch screen. It also has a paddle shift, a power tailgate; lane departure, stability and drift warning electronics, and an around-view monitor for parking.
The QX70S 3.7 AWD also brings you back to big pistons, with a seductive 315hp V6 that has been one of Ward’s Best 10 engines for 14 consecutive years. The V6 consumes 12.1 litres per 100km and emits 282g/km in CO2, with a seven-speed automatic transmission. You look and feel rich in the stylish QX70S, and its doors are less flashy than the Tesla’s.
The cost of the popular Tesla Model S has also risen, from HK$620,000 to about HK$1.03 million. The new sticker makes the Tesla seem expensive and boosts the appeal of the new BMW 5 Series 530iA. Available in Sport (HK$739,000) and Luxury (HK$789,000) versions, the 530iA looks sleeker than ever with sharp LED headlights on 17-inch wheels. The Bavarian saloon also has the vroom of a 252-horsepower, two-litre engine that produces 350 Newton metres of torque for sprints to 100km/h in 6.2 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h. Its four-cylinder engine consumes 5.5 litres per 100km on combined runs or about 4.7 litres per 100km in town on a 68-litre tank, however, and the marque says its carbon dioxide emissions range between 136-126g/km.
The plug-in Tesla Model S 75D, on the other hand, tonnes in 5.4 seconds and is theoretically “emissions free”, but the seventh-generation 5 Series reminds EV lovers of three traditional driving pleasures: of a car that goes “vroom”; of the cachet of saying: “I drive a 5 Series BMW”; and of stepping into a cabin that is built around the driver’s “head-up” view of the road, not an “head across or down” 17-inch touch screen.