Exhausted

When they hit our streets they will be the slowest cars in town, but some say also the most powerful. Their most enthusiastic supporters believe they’ll change not only the way Hongkongers drive but also the way they think, and launch a similar shift in consciousness across the rest of China. At the same time, many stress that they’re far from the solution to all our problems, and that the government prioritizes them at the expense of more urgent solutions. Either way, the electric car faces a bumpy road ahead into Hong Kong.

One such vehicle is an electric car that was actually designed in Hong Kong. MyCar is a battery-powered, two-seater “microcar” developed by Hong Kong company EuAuto Technology. When fully charged it can travel more than 100km, at up to 50-60km/hr, producing no roadside emissions and saving owners up to a dollar per kilometer over gas cars. And according to Professor Eric Cheng, who worked on designing the car with other members of the Power Electronics Research Centre at Hong Kong Polytechnic, its small size makes it easy to manufacture in Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, MyCar’s small size also means it can’t be used in Hong Kong right now. While the Financial Secretary’s budget speech touted special government support for electric vehicles in Hong Kong—namely the funding of research work on MyCar and the extension of the tax exemption on electric cars from three to five years—it has not approved the use of Hong Kong’s own model on our streets. According to Cheng, the hold-up is a “red tape issue” at the Transport Department, which currently lacks a licensing category for cars so small. Instead, the government will be using Mitsubishi’s larger iMieve as a test model here, possibly before the end of the year.

While still pushing to get approved locally, EuAuto chief executive Chung Sin-ling has decided to bring MyCar to Europe in the meantime. “Electric micro-cars are widely used there, particularly in the UK, France and Italy,” she says, adding that Denmark is considering a plan for all its drivers to go electric. MyCar is expected to hit the road later this year in London, where electric cars are already being driven and are encouraged by incentives such as free parking.

The recent spate of international enthusiasm for electric cars around the world is impressive considering they were pronounced dead in 2006. Chris Paine’s famous documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” blamed the oil industry, automobile manufacturers and other vested interests for thwarting its successful emergence in California. Since then, more advanced technology, high oil prices and growing environmental awareness have put the car back in the international spotlight, prompting Paine to follow up with “Revenge of the Electric Car,” out later this year.

Local advocates such as Chung consider Hong Kong a “model city” for the use of electric cars in Asia. “It’s small, it has well-educated people, and we have good environmental sense here,” says Chung. Professor Cheng believes the city’s severe air pollution problem is bound to push up demand for the product once it’s available. Yet plenty of local infrastructure work has to be carried out before such a market can even begin to evolve here. Battery-charging facilities connected to the electric grid will have to be set up at stations and car parks. How long and how easy it will be for such a network to be set up has yet to be seen.