📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by Dr the Hon Chan Hanpan and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology Mr Tse Chinwan in the Legislative Council today October 7
Question
The Government promulgated the Green Transformation Roadmap of Public Buses and Taxis in December 2024 to promote the green transformation of public buses and taxis including subsidising the taxi trade for the purchase of 3 000 electric taxis etaxis However as at the end of July this year only about 1 065 taxis had been granted the subsidies and licensed The Government indicated in May this year its target to introduce 3 000 etaxis by the end of 2027 In addition the Government has also drawn up arrangements for phasing out Euro IV diesel commercial vehicles In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 of the respective numbers of newly registered electric buses ebuses etaxis and electric public light buses in each year from 2023 to 2025 and this year to date the current respective numbers and proportions of electric vehicles among various types of vehicles
2 of the respective numbers of taxis for which the invited taxi owners no longer received subsidy quotas or were not granted subsidies under the eTaxi Subsidy Scheme because they replied not to participate in the scheme or failed to reply place purchase orders or have the etaxis licensed within the deadline whether the authorities know the respective major reasons for the aforesaid situations
3 of the respective numbers of Euro IV diesel nonfranchised buses and light buses which had yet to be phased out as at August 2026
4 in order to allow the trade more time and a wider choice of vehicle models i whether the Government will extend by two years the relevant deadlines for placing purchase orders and licensing under the eTaxi Subsidy Scheme and whether it will allow taxi owners who lost their subsidy quotas or were not granted subsidies due to late replies late placement of orders or late licensing to reparticipate in the scheme ii whether the Government will extend by two years the relevant deadlines for franchised bus operators to place purchase orders for complete delivery of and register ebuses if so of the details if not the reasons for that and
5 whether the Government will extend by two years the current application deadlines for the exgratia payment for Euro IV diesel nonfranchised buses and light buses so as to allow the trade more time to identify and procure suitable replacement models if so of the details if not the reasons for that
Reply
President
In order to achieve zero vehicular emissions before 2050 in line with Hong Kongs commitment to strive for carbon neutrality in the same timeframe the Government has been actively promoting the popularisation of electric vehicles EVs Measures to promote the green transformation of public buses and taxis were set out in the Governments Green Transformation Roadmap of Public Buses and Taxis announced in 2024 The Updated Version of the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles announced in February this year set out a number of schemes and initiatives to continue promoting the development of EVs The technology for electric commercial vehicles eCVs such as medium and heavy goods vehicles and nonfranchised buses is still evolving These eCV types in the local market are not yet ready for large scale application at this stage due to various reasons such as purchase costs that are significantly higher than those of diesel vehicles limited driving range lower loadcarrying capacity and longer charging time etc The Government is pragmatically promoting and has established a working group to first explore the introduction of applicable models for public light buses PLB
Having consulted the Transport Department my response to the question raised by Dr Hon Chan is as follows
1 The number of first registered electric buses ebuses electric taxis etaxis and electric public light buses ePLBs over the past three years or so as well as the current number and proportion of EVs within each vehicle type are as follows
Number of first registered EVs
Vehicle Type
2023
2024
2025
2026
as at endAugust
Ebus
39
33
43
57
Etaxi
17
140
899
634
EPLB
1
3
11
9
Number of EVs
Vehicle Type
As at endAugust 2026
No of EVs
Total no of registered vehicles
proportion of EVs
Private car
178 574
650 227
275
Motorcyclemotor tricycle
1 187
111 461
11
Taxi
1 613
18 163
89
Bus
217
14 001
15
Light bus
40
7 712
05
Goods vehicle
1 868
113 390
16
Special purpose vehicle
121
2 198
55
Total
183 620
917 152
200
Note 1 As Government vehicles need not be registered they are not included in the figures above
2 and 4 The Government launched the etaxi subsidy scheme in December 2024 aiming to subsidise the taxi trade to purchase 3 000 etaxis to replace their old taxis The subsidy level for each etaxi is 45000 From the launch of the subsidy scheme to August 2026 the Government has issued a total of five rounds of invitation letters to eligible owners of the oldest batches of taxis at that time covering 8 448 taxis with their first registration dates on or before October 20 2016 As at endAugust 2026 the owners of 3 578 taxis have accepted the subsidy quotas Among them 1 152 etaxis have been licensed and are eligible to receive subsidy Besides the owners of 3 527 taxis replied not to participate in the scheme or did not reply in the first four rounds of invitations whilst the owners of 1 343 taxis in the latest round of invitation have not yet replied whether they will accept the subsidy quota before the impending deadline in early October
The subsidy scheme requires taxi owners who have accepted subsidy quotas to procure etaxis within six months from the issuance date of the invitation letters by the Government as well as to license the etaxis within 12 months from the date in the etaxi procurement docu
