Hong Kong needs to go beyond 2035 petrol car ban and switch to electric commercial vehicles

Much has been made of California’s recent announcement to ban new petrol car sales by 2035. But Hong Kong is a step ahead, having announced the same goal in March last year. The city’s environment minister at the time declared the target of ceasing new registration of fuel-propelled and hybrid vehicles by 2035 as “the most progressive in Asia”.

Hong Kong’s road map to a sustainable future includes a goal of zero vehicular emissions before 2050. Drivers are seemingly on board, with electric vehicles accounting for one in four new cars sold last year. By 2025, officials expect that ratio to rise to one in two, noting that Hong Kong is already a leading major Asian city in terms of EV sales.

Hong Kong has made much progress towards its ambitious goals. Our EV sales last year, at 25 per cent of the market, eclipsed China’s 13 per cent and the US’ 2.6 per cent. According to Statista, Norway had the highest EV market share at 65 per cent. However, China’s EV market is by far the largest. Its market size in 2020 was already three times as large as each of the next two biggest EV markets of Germany and the US.

In Hong Kong, financial incentives have motivated consumers to help the government reach its environmental goals. In just six years, it has provided more than HK$7.4 billion (US$943 million) in concessions in the first registration tax for private EVs.

We have a lot more to do but we are heading in the right direction. The global business focus on environmental, social and corporate governance, and the consumer demand for EVs will keep the pressure on.