Currently, in Hong Kong, the law states that in order to be permitted on an expressway (aka highway), a car has to have a minimum size engine (specified as number of CCs of the ICE). As EVs have 0cc engines, they are not permitted on the expressway without a special permit being issued.
Tesla Hong Kong have shown that this process takes at least 4 weeks or so, from first registration of the car. As the number of EVs grow, this is becoming a bigger issue, and is a real dis-incentive to buying an EV for some people.
I want to get this changed.
A LEGCO (legislative council) question was recently raised on this:
LCQ 19: The wider use of electric vehicles
and the government response was that if you apply for the expressway permit at the same time as first registration, you get it in two days. Sounds reasonable and easy, so knowing the real situation, I went that route when applying for registration of my new Tesla Roadster this week. True enough, I got the expressway permit immediately. The problem: it is only valid for 1 month!
So here is the reason: The government currently requires that when you apply for an expressway permit you show them an insurance document, and the permit will not be issued with an expiry date later than the insurance document. See:
Transport Department - Permits
As I only had a 30 day cover note, I only got 30 days of permit.
I see nothing in the regulations (http://www.hklii.org/hk/legis/en/reg/374E/s50a.html) that require this. It is up to the Commissioner to determine what he requires and how he implements this. He has chosen to do it in a bureaucratic and impractical way.
It turns out that if you apply for the permit at the same time as first registration, you do get it in a day or two. If, however, you apply later then the application procedure takes 3 weeks. But, when you first register a car, you will only have an insurance cover note (at best) and that can only be 30 days until the insurance company issues a formal certificate valid for 1 year (it takes them a couple of weeks to do this). The insurance company won't issue a formal certificate without seeing the vehicle registration document. Catch 22.
So, you have two choices in HK at the moment:
1. Get a 30 day cover note. Quickly get a 30 day expressway permit. When your insurance certificate arrives, in a couple of weeks, renew the expressway permit. Result: you can drive on the expressway legally, but have to jump through bureaucratic hoops.
2. Wait a couple of weeks for the certificate of insurance, and then apply for expressway permit (waiting 3 more weeks). Result is just one application, but you have to wait 5 to 6 weeks to get the permit to be able to legally drive on the expressway.
I chose 1 (to clearly demonstrate the point by doing it the way the Secretary for the Environment specifically suggested) and am now going to pursue this with government with a view to getting this changed.
Long-term, the best solution is to change the law to allow a vehicle to be type-approved for the expressway and remove the permit requirement all together.
Short-term, the goal is to pursued the Commissioner to change his policy to not restrict the expiry date of the permit to be later than insurance cover. There is precedent for this in that the road tax is issued for up to 1 year, irrespective of how many days of insurance you have (so long as you have insurance on the day you apply).
Using my case as an example, I am now writing to the Commissioner, Mr Cheung Hok-ming and the Secretary for the Environment (Edward Yau), to point out the catch 22 and bureaucratic nonsense, to get this changed.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but my goal is to get EVs on the road in Hong Kong and I thought it useful to document the process. I'll update this thread with any response I get, or changes I see. Please let me know your thoughts, and if anyone can offer any help it would be much appreciated.
Tesla Hong Kong have shown that this process takes at least 4 weeks or so, from first registration of the car. As the number of EVs grow, this is becoming a bigger issue, and is a real dis-incentive to buying an EV for some people.
I want to get this changed.
A LEGCO (legislative council) question was recently raised on this:
LCQ 19: The wider use of electric vehicles
and the government response was that if you apply for the expressway permit at the same time as first registration, you get it in two days. Sounds reasonable and easy, so knowing the real situation, I went that route when applying for registration of my new Tesla Roadster this week. True enough, I got the expressway permit immediately. The problem: it is only valid for 1 month!
So here is the reason: The government currently requires that when you apply for an expressway permit you show them an insurance document, and the permit will not be issued with an expiry date later than the insurance document. See:
Transport Department - Permits
As I only had a 30 day cover note, I only got 30 days of permit.
I see nothing in the regulations (http://www.hklii.org/hk/legis/en/reg/374E/s50a.html) that require this. It is up to the Commissioner to determine what he requires and how he implements this. He has chosen to do it in a bureaucratic and impractical way.
It turns out that if you apply for the permit at the same time as first registration, you do get it in a day or two. If, however, you apply later then the application procedure takes 3 weeks. But, when you first register a car, you will only have an insurance cover note (at best) and that can only be 30 days until the insurance company issues a formal certificate valid for 1 year (it takes them a couple of weeks to do this). The insurance company won't issue a formal certificate without seeing the vehicle registration document. Catch 22.
So, you have two choices in HK at the moment:
1. Get a 30 day cover note. Quickly get a 30 day expressway permit. When your insurance certificate arrives, in a couple of weeks, renew the expressway permit. Result: you can drive on the expressway legally, but have to jump through bureaucratic hoops.
2. Wait a couple of weeks for the certificate of insurance, and then apply for expressway permit (waiting 3 more weeks). Result is just one application, but you have to wait 5 to 6 weeks to get the permit to be able to legally drive on the expressway.
I chose 1 (to clearly demonstrate the point by doing it the way the Secretary for the Environment specifically suggested) and am now going to pursue this with government with a view to getting this changed.
Long-term, the best solution is to change the law to allow a vehicle to be type-approved for the expressway and remove the permit requirement all together.
Short-term, the goal is to pursued the Commissioner to change his policy to not restrict the expiry date of the permit to be later than insurance cover. There is precedent for this in that the road tax is issued for up to 1 year, irrespective of how many days of insurance you have (so long as you have insurance on the day you apply).
Using my case as an example, I am now writing to the Commissioner, Mr Cheung Hok-ming and the Secretary for the Environment (Edward Yau), to point out the catch 22 and bureaucratic nonsense, to get this changed.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but my goal is to get EVs on the road in Hong Kong and I thought it useful to document the process. I'll update this thread with any response I get, or changes I see. Please let me know your thoughts, and if anyone can offer any help it would be much appreciated.