Tesla opens EV charging station in Hong Kong, the largest in Asia

 

Located in Kowloon Bay, the Destination Charging station houses 50 charging units, meaning the facility is the largest of its kind in Asia.

 

Provision of charging stations remains a major factor in the growth of the EV market globally, and Hong Kong’s 2017 decision to cut tax breaks for electric cars has negatively impacted sales.

 

The government had a first registration tax waiver in place for EVs until 1 April 2017 in a bid to reduce air pollution in the city.

 

South China Morning Post said at the time that the price of a new electric vehicle “shot up by 50 to 80 per cent” when the government capped the scheme at HK$97,500.

 

 

 

In terms of the impact this had on sales, SCMP reported that “136 new EVs were registered from April 2017 to March this year, compared with 5,819 in the same period the year before” and that Tesla bore the brunt of this sales dive.

 

The Hong Kong government introduced an alternative scheme in March this year, offering a tax break of up to HK$250,000 to private buyers who scrap their fossil fuel-based vehicle for an EV, provided the original car is at least six years old and the buyer has owned it for a minimum of three years.

 

While this boosted EV sales “up to 139 over the five months from March to July this year” according to SCMP, work remains to be done in order to encourage the uptake of EVs in the city.

 

Tesla’s investment in the Hong Kong charging facility station serves as a statement of intent from the Palo Alto-based firm, pushing availability of EV facilities in a bid to appeal to consumers who may have been dissuaded from purchasing an EV due to limited infrastructure.