LCQ18: Charging facilities for public transport
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Question:
It is learnt that parking bays will be provided at a number of public transport interchanges (PTIs) in the future for the charging of franchised buses, green minibuses and taxis. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current costs of installing quick chargers at PTIs and the relevant charging fees;
(2) given that the authorities are mainly using quick chargers as the charging facilities required for long-distance franchised buses operating across districts currently, whether the authorities have assessed if these quick charging facilities are sufficient to meet the charging demand of public transport in the next 10 years; if an assessment has been made, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) as there are views that the Mainland has widely used superchargers to charge public transport, whether the authorities have studied (i) the feasibility of installing superchargers at public facilities in Hong Kong (e.g. PTIs), (ii) adopting supercharging technology as the standard for planning future charging facilities, and (iii) the safety of applying supercharging facilities indoors; if an assessment has been made, of the details (including estimates of the costs of installing superchargers and the relevant charging fees); if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My response to the question raised by the Hon YANG is as follows:
According to the guideline "Requirements of Charging-enabling Infrastructure for Electric Franchised Buses, Electric Public Light Buses and Electric Taxis in New Public Transport Interchanges and Bus Termini" as revised by the Environmental Protection Department in 2023, each new public transport interchange (PTI) is required to reserve sufficient space and power supply therein to provide charging-enabling infrastructure for full electrification of public transport services, enabling public transport operators to install suitable chargers themselves according to their operational needs. Since the release of the Guideline, one new PTI providing charging-enabling infrastructure was commissioned at the end of March this year, allowing public transport operators to install 10 fast chargers for electric franchised buses (e-buses) and electric taxis (e-taxis), capable of supporting 21 e-buses and 18 e-taxis. As the operators have yet to install chargers, there is currently no information on the costs of the chargers or charging fees.
The cost (excluding the costs of installation and upgrading of electrical infrastructure) of each fast charger (with rated output power of 100 kW or above) is about $300,000. In general, the actual cost of installing a charger varies depending on factors such as charger model, the rated output power and the electrical infrastructure condition at the installation locations, etc.
Aligning with the daily operating model of franchised buses, e-buses are best suited for charging at bus depots. Charging facilities located at the PTI only offer top-up charging for e-buses in case of needs. Franchised bus operators had already arranged to install fast chargers at bus depots to meet the charging needs of their e-buses.
As for taxis, the Government will install 50 fast chargers dedicated for e-taxis by the end of 2027 (capable of supporting about 300 e-taxis depending on their actual operation). Of these, 12 are already in full operation, and tenders for the installation of the remaining 38 have also been awarded.
As for public light buses (PLBs), there are three sets of dedicated charging facilities for electric PLBs (e-PLBs) under the Pilot Scheme for Electric Public Light Buses, which can support 16 e-PLBs for charging. One set of charging facilities (including one pantograph and one backup plug-in charger) locates at the Kwun Tong Yue Man Square PTI, and the other two sets (including two pantographs and two backup plug-in chargers) locate at the Kowloon Tong Suffolk Road PTI.
As mentioned in the Updated Version of the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles announced in February this year, we will develop a public charging network with fast chargers as the backbone through policy guidance, thereby providing greater convenience for private car owners and underpinning the overall popularisation of electric commercial vehicles including e-PLBs and e-taxis. Our target is to reach around 10 000 fast chargers by 2035, supporting around 500 000 electric vehicles (EVs), so as to meet the charging demands of all EVs, including electric public transport, by that time.
With continuous advancements in charging technology, EVs and charging facilities supporting high-rated power charging are already emerging in the market and their numbers are expected to proliferate significantly in the future. It is noteworthy that even if the rated output power of the charger reaches an extremely high level, the actual charging time still depends on whether the EV's battery can withstand such a high charging power. We also plan to launch a new scheme under the New Energy Transport Fund in 2026 to encourage the industry to install fast chargers with a power of at least 240 kW for use by electric commercial vehicles. We will continue to assess the growth rate of various types of EVs and the utilisation rates of charging facilities, etc, to continuously evaluate and optimise the relevant programmes and measures for expanding the charging network.
On the road to green transformation, we will encounter various challenges arising from EV charging technology development, including safe application of high-power charging technology, etc. The Government has commenced relevant work on updating the Technical Guidelines on Charging Facilities for Electric Vehicles for targeted completion by end of 2026, to keep pace with the latest developments in EVs and facilitate installation of different charging facilities and ensure safety.
Ends/Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:30
Issued at HKT 12:30
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