Free electric vehicle (EV) charging services in the Kwai Fong and Kennedy Town Car Parks will end on December 28 and 29 respectively, the Environmental Protection Department announced today.

The arrangement is the first phase of the progressive marketisation of EV charging services in government car parks, the department explained.

Currently providing 94 medium chargers, the free EV charging services in the Kwai Fong Car Park will end on December 28, while that of the Kennedy Town Car Park with 59 medium chargers will end the next day.

After the free services end, the operators will immediately upgrade the chargers for the payment system, which will charge $19 and $21 per hour at the two car parks respectively.

The department said the marketisation aims to promote market participation in providing EV charging services, adding that it will help expedite the expansion of the EV charging network and better cater for market needs.

The charging fees approved by the department are determined by the operators and take into account the prevailing market rates of EV medium charging services in the same district.  

In addition, the department revealed that it will progressively implement fee-charging services for some 1,400 EV medium chargers in the remaining 72 government car parks. It is anticipated that the marketisation of the EV charging services will be complete by mid-2024.

Latest information on the implementation schedule and fee level will be released on the department’s website, the EV-Charging Easy mobile application and notices posted at the relevant car parks.

As stated in the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles, the Government plans to impose EV charging fees in its public car parks starting from 2025, so as to marketise the EV charging services and promote their sustainable development in the long run.

To expedite the progress, the Government has advanced the marketisation of such services in government car parks progressively starting from the end of this year.

It will continue to actively promote the expansion of the EV charging network with the aim of increasing the number of public and private parking spaces with charging infrastructure to about 200,000 by mid-2027.