Gov’t EV fast charger subsidy to accept application next month

The government will begin accepting applications next month for a HK$300 million subsidy scheme to install 3,000 fast electric vehicle (EV) chargers by 2028, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said.

Under the new scheme, an applicant can receive a subsidy of HK$100,000 for each new fast charger, with the maximum total subsidy amount capped at HK$20 million.

Applicants must secure their own land and power as well as cover associated costs. The subsidized chargers must offer electronic payment options and charge fees based on energy consumption.

Participants will also be required to provide real-time data on charger availability and pricing, as well as carry public liability insurance.

The initiative, first introduced in the 2024 Policy Address, aims to support an additional 160,000 EVs in Hong Kong, as the number of EVs in the city increased by eight times over the past five years, from 14,000 to about 110,000 by the end of last year.

Tse told lawmakers on Wednesday that EVs now account for about 70 percent of newly registered private cars, positioning Hong Kong among global leaders in EV adoption.

As of March, nearly 100,000 parking spaces are equipped with charging infrastructure, including 11,180 public chargers—about 2,000 of which are fast chargers. 

The government has been encouraging private residential developments to include EV charging facilities since 2011 by tightening gross floor area exemptions and has approved over 93,700 such parking spaces.

Combined with the now-closed EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme, which supported installations in private housing estates, Tse projected that more than 200,000 private parking spaces will have been installed with charging infrastructure by mid-2027.

A separate 2022 installation initiative covering 7,000 government parking spots has added 4,160 chargers, and is expected to meet the target by year-end.

(Ayra Wang)