http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1891706/electric-shock-two-thirds-public-charging-outlets Hong Kong parking shock: Two-thirds of public charging outlets in car parks taken up by petrol vehicles 16 December, 2015 Naomi Ng
[images / Dickson Lee http://cdn4.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/2015/12/15/2faeb4eb85d406e0c987405d167e2bad.jpg?itok=6yanzSXI Eric Tang Chi-chung at Star Ferry car park http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/12/16/scmp_11dec15_ns_car7_dl_00368a_54572025.jpg?itok=YqZHlV4m Electric car charging stations at Star Ferry Car Park in Central ] Setback for government's green initiative as Post investigation finds two-thirds of public charging spots are occupied by petrol cars At least two-thirds of public charging spots for electric vehicles in government car parks have been occupied by petrol cars, posing a setback to the government's green initiative, a Post investigation has found. The government said electric vehicles (EV) were given priority for parking spaces that are equipped with charging outlets during non-peak hours, but there are no enforcement rules in place to prevent petrol cars from occupying the space. In three of the nine government car parks equipped with public charging facilities on Hong Kong Island, two-thirds of the EV-enabled spaces were occupied by petrol cars last Friday afternoon. "I get really frustrated when I see internal combustion engine cars blocking the space. We really need the charging facilities when we don't have them at home or at work," said Eric Tang Chi-chung, a Tesla owner. Traffic cones with "EV priority" signs are placed in front of some spaces with faster chargers, but they are often put aside by petrol car drivers, according to staff at City Hall car park. "I can only tell them they shouldn't park there or give out warning letters, but we can't really do anything. It's not illegal," said a worker with Wilson Parking, which manages several government car parks. Unlike parking in a handicapped spot - illegal without a permit - staff are not required to clamp cars and issue fines. With the lack of home charging capability, EV drivers rely on public charging facilities which are already struggling to keep pace with demand. Hong Kong boasts one of the lowest EV-to-charger ratios in the world, with just more than two cars sharing a charger, according to figures from the Environmental Protection Department. By comparison, there are around nine cars per charger in Japan and six in Norway. A government spokesman said the utilisation of public chargers had been low, with an average of about 150 charges per month per car park, as found in a survey in May. But in the past five months alone, there has been an increase of 1,400 EVs on the road, bringing the number to more than 3,500. Chargers in government car parks account for a quarter of the 1,200 chargers around town, including in shopping malls and commercial buildings. EV owner Kendrick Shih said he had never seen a similar situation in commercial car parks such as at Cyberport and Repulse Bay, as parking spaces are designated as "EV only", with security teams enforcing strict rules. "The current set-up is outdated already," said Tang. "The government should be fair to EV owners who are supporting their campaign of trying to clean up pollution." [© 2015 South China Morning Post] ... http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1885096/electric-cars-rise-hong-kong-building-management?page=all Electric cars on the rise in Hong Kong but building management are failing to plug a home-charging gap ... http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1724889/chinese-tesla-owner-turns-power-line-illegal-personal-charging-station Chinese Tesla owner turns power line into illegal personal charging station For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Hong-Kong-cn-e-parking-shock-2-3-of-public-EVSE-iced-tp4679276.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
