China News Agency, Hong Kong, August 2, title: The breakthrough in electric vehicle technology in the Mainland helps Hong Kong to achieve carbon neutrality at an early date
China News Agency reporter Xiang Luping
Hong Kong KMB’s first pure electric double-decker bus has recently been put into service, attracting attention again. The mainland’s electric vehicle manufacturing technology has continued to break through, and the industry has risen rapidly. It has not only become the world’s largest exporter of automobiles, but also pushed Hong Kong’s public transportation into the electric era. In the next few years, Hong Kong’s electric buses will gradually replace fuel buses, which will be a new trend and help Hong Kong achieve its goal of carbon neutrality as soon as possible.
Hong Kong’s population density ranks among the highest in the world, and public transportation is well developed. Franchised buses carry more than 3 million passengers every day. Statistics show that although commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses, minibuses and taxis only account for about 20% of the total number of vehicles in Hong Kong, they emit a lot of pollution and are the key targets of the SAR government to improve road air quality.
In Hong Kong, which has a small land and a large population, the five franchised bus companies have more than 6,000 buses, more than 95% of which are double-decker buses. Compared with single-decker buses, electric double-decker buses require greater power and endurance to support the driving of large volume, high passenger capacity and air-conditioning supply. Although Hong Kong has long studied the electrification of public buses, the progress has been slow for quite some time, mainly because cost factors and technical obstacles have not been effectively resolved.
Electric double-decker buses have been able to officially enter service in Hong Kong in the past two years, mainly due to the industrial development and technological progress of electric vehicles in the Mainland. The first electric double-decker bus in Hong Kong launched by NWFB and Citybus in May last year was manufactured in the mainland. “Blade battery” can last for 300 kilometers after charging for about 2 hours. KMB stated that 52 electric double-decker buses will be put into service within this year, and it is expected to increase the number to 500 in 2027. The goal is to upgrade the entire fleet to new energy buses by 2040.
The goal of the Hong Kong SAR government is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In the medium term, Hong Kong’s total carbon emissions should be halved from the 2005 level by 2035. At present, about 20% of Hong Kong’s carbon emissions come from transportation, second only to power generation, which is the largest carbon emitter. If the electrification rate of transportation vehicles cannot be promoted, it will undoubtedly become quite difficult to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
To accelerate the electrification of public transport, the SAR government plans to put in about 3,000 electric taxis by the end of 2027, accounting for one-sixth of the current 18,000 taxis in Hong Kong. In addition, with the support of the SAR government, electric ferries have also begun trials.
The further electrification of transportation in Hong Kong in the future depends on several aspects: first, whether the key technology of electric vehicles can be broken through again, and the battery needs to be charged faster and provide longer battery life; second, the cost continues to decrease. The current electric double-decker bus The price of a car is not cheaper than that of a fuel-powered car; the third is the policy support of the SAR government to keep pace with the times and various supporting supports. (over)
Editor in charge: Hou Zhe
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2023-08-03 01:33:24
