Charged Hong Kong

Despite a fragmented early market, Plug In America findings suggest that EVs have put the U.S. on a path toward the discontinued use of petroleum in vehicles within 25 years

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 4, 2015 — Plug In America today unveiled a new landmark study on efforts underway to accelerate the growth of the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market in the U.S.

"The Promotion of Electric Vehicles in the United States — A Landscape Assessment” delivers 11 key findings followed by recommendations Plug In America believes will stimulate PEV market growth.

Over 300,000 PEVs are now on America’s roads. Nearly 120,000 of those were delivered to new owners in 2014. Efforts to boost sales have become increasingly important given the vehicles' clean air benefits and potential for eliminating the use of petroleum and other fossil fuels in personal transportation.

Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (May 6):

Question: Some members of the public have relayed to me that on a number of occasions recently, they saw people riding electric unicycles on pavements and cycle tracks. It is learnt that some electric unicycles, after being charged for an hour, can travel 25 kilometres at a maximum speed of 16 kilometres per hour, and members of the public can purchase electric unicycles at certain shopping malls and online shopping web sites. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) given that the interpretation of a "motor vehicle" under the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) is "any mechanically propelled vehicle", whether an electric unicycle is a motor vehicle as defined by the Ordinance;

(2) of the respective numbers of cases in which the authorities issued verbal warnings to and instituted prosecutions against people who had contravened the relevant legislation for riding electric unicycles, as well as the number of traffic accidents involving electric unicycles, in the past two years;

(3) whether, in the past two years, the authorities looked into the sales situation of electric unicycles on the Internet and in the market, and whether the relevant government departments took any law enforcement actions; and

A meet-up at the Jockey Club Happy Valley. Pool-Side BBQ.

Charged Hong Kong is having a member's meet-up at the Jockey Club Happy Valley. We've arranged free parking for all, and a poolside BBQ.

* A selection of Asian, International and Surf & Turf Barbecue Buffet menus
* Unlimited serving of house beer, orange juice and soft drinks throughout the dinner
* No Service charge
* Free Use of Car Parking facilities
* Children prices are only available between age 3-10
* Menu subject to change and item substitution

Pricing for associate members will be HK$350/adult or HK$220/child.

Pricing for founder and ordinary members will be HK$300/adult or HK$170/child.

Cancellation with full refund available until 14 days before the event.

For online registration, login to charged.hk and select the "May 29th Event" tab, or click here: http://www.charged.hk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1

As you may know, Charged Hong Kong has been setup to represent owners of all electric vehicles in Hong Kong, not just Tesla Motors cars. Accordingly, we arranged the constitution such that we could setup individual owner's groups, each with their own representative at the executive committee level (section 13, if you are interested in the details).

During a recent meeting, we agreed to form the first such Special Interest Group - for Tesla Motors owners and enthusiasts. We're pleased to announce that by unanimous approval of the executive committee, Mr Locky Law has been asked to represent that group for the foundational year.

Mr Law has been an enthusiastic member of the local Tesla Motors owner community, and has been instrumental in such initiatives as the best/worst car park list, Line communications group, Model S floor mats group buy, and many others.

Mr Mark Webb-Johnson, Chairman Charged Hong Kong, commented that "Locky was the clear choice for first representative, and we have invited him to represent the owners of Tesla Motors vehicles in Hong Kong. We are grateful that he has accepted the role, and look forward to working with him on the executive committee".

The previous unofficial "Tesla Motors Club Hong Kong" will be merged in under the new Tesla Motors Group, and come under the Charged Hong Kong umbrella organisation.

As at end of March 2015, there are 1984 EVs in use, up from less than 100 in end 2010. At present, 39 EV models from seven countries have been type-approved by the Transport Department (TD). These include 26 models for private cars and motorcycles, 13 models for public transport and commercial vehicles. The EVs which have been type-approved by TD and are available for sale in Hong Kong* as at March 2015 are listed as follows.

http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/air/prob_solutions/pro...

We’re pleased to be able to announce that we’ve managed to complete the government registration formalities, and Charged Hong Kong has received it’s society registration certificate #54000. We are now legally formed and ready to go.

Membership

We can now begin accepting memberships. As previously announced, we’ve got four levels of member:

Hong Kong (HKSAR) - Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (March 25)

The questions, and government responses can be seen here:

http://7thspace.com/headlines/505689/lcq21_reduction_of_vehicle_emission...

Since our launch event a few weeks ago, we’ve received a large number of enquiries about membership and how people can help. This is just a short note to keep you up to date on our progress with the establishment of Charged Hong Kong, and to let you know what will happen, and when.

It is important to point out that we are building this association for the long-run. Something that can be inclusive for all owners/enthusiasts of electric vehicles in Hong Kong, and something that can accelerate real change. For that reason, we want to ensure that we have a strong foundation.

Website and Constitution

We’ve established a website (charged.hk), agreed on a constitution (which you can view online at charged.hk/constitution), and formed the founding executive committee. Applications have been made to the Societies Office and the Inland Revenue Department, for the registration of our society. We are now waiting for the result from the relevant government departments, but we hope that these applications will be successful, and that we can be registered and up-and-running, before the end of February.

Membership Types

Once these registrations have been complete, and the bank account is open, we can begin accepting memberships. We’ve agreed the following offerings:

電動車為香港帶來更潔淨空氣

『電動香港』的成立將加快推動充電式電動車於香港的普及化

2015年1月27日發佈

致力於加快推動充電式電動車於香港的普及化之組織 - 『電動香港』已 於2015年1月25日星期日在港正式成立。該日並有70多位電動車愛好者駕駛30多輛電動車見證這項盛事。

『電動香港』新任主席Mark Webb-Johnson 致辭時表示：「電動車對改善香港的空氣質素非常重要，因為電動車不但較傳統使用引擎的汽車有更高效率，更可達致廢氣零排放。」Webb-Johnson先生其後補充：「『電動香港』將有效地協助香港駕駛者更加容易地成為電動車駕駛者。」

『電動香港』將為各電動車車主及電動車愛好者就推廣使用電動車，以取代使用引擎的傳統汽車提供討論的平台，讓大家有更多交流意見的機會。本會並會代表電動車車主向生產商、充電網絡營運商、傳媒，以及香港特區政府反映車主的集體意見。

Webb-Johnson先生表示：「於短短5年之間，在香港註冊的電動車數量已由7輛增加至去年11月底的831輛，每天數字還在不斷上升。這表示大眾對這方面的技術實抱有濃厚興趣，惟礙於充電配套不足等因素，嚴重打擊了他們購買電動車的意慾。」Webb-Johnson先生指出，其他窒礙電動車購買意欲的因素包括：生產商所提供的型號選擇、定價、政府補貼、電動車充電專用泊位，以及公眾對電動車之好處了解不足等。

如欲了解更多有關『電動香港』的資訊，或有意加入成為會員，歡迎登入網站 ：charged.hk。

關於『電動香港』
『電動香港』致力於在香港推動充電式電動車的普及化。我們相信充電式電動車比傳統汽車要環保得多，可以使香港的空氣質素得到極大改善。『電動香港』提供一個有關電動車及香港環境保護等討論及意見交換之平台，從而使我們能夠代表所有會員向生產商、充電網絡營運商、傳媒，以及香港特區政府反映車主的集體意見。

傳媒聯絡人

如欲了解更多關於『電動香港』的資訊, 請登入網站 charged.hk 或聯絡:
Edwin Lee
電動香港副主席
press@charged.hk