Plan To Phase Out Petrol Cars 'progressive': Govt

The government said on Friday its plan to phase out the sale of private petrol and diesel cars by 2035 is progressive and could be brought forward.

The Environment Secretary Wong Kam-sing said the scheme - announced in Wednesday's Budget - could push car manufacturers and sellers to increase the supply of electric vehicles in Hong Kong.

He said the 2035 target would be reviewed every five years.

“Our target is actually the most progressive in Asia… the meaning of 2035 is to send a clear signal to the car manufacturers and suppliers to Hong Kong that we would be progressively supporting more electric vehicles because in Hong Kong, one of the critical factors to go through this transition is to have reasonable supply of electric vehicles,” he said.

“I think with this clear signal, there would be more and more supply so that we can review that over time and probably there would be room for us to consider whether the 2035 [target] could be subject to review and become an earlier date.”

He noted that the government had been doing a lot of preparatory work to facilitate the transition, such as offering tax incentives to car owners to switch to electric vehicles and providing subsidies to encourage private developers to install charging facilities at housing estates and shopping malls.