Automaker also struggling to sell
e-buses in city and has only received orders for 14 so far, it
says
PUBLISHED : Friday,
06 November, 2015, 7:07pm
Chinese automaker BYD, which is partly owned
by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, officially branded its
two-year trial run of electric taxis in Hong Kong as a failure on
Friday.
“I’m the one to take charge of BYD’s e-taxi
project in Hong Kong,” said Ding Haimiao,assistant to the general
manager at the carmaker.
“I have to say it’s a failure,” he added.
Ding made the comments to a group of academic
and technology industry figures from Hong Kong during a speech in
the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
In 2013, BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu said he
expected the company to launch dozens of e6 electric car taxis in
Hong Kong by the end of that year.
He predicted the number would grow to 1,000 by
2014 and 3,000 this year.
That didn’t happen.
BYD has still only launched 45 e6 cabs and
three charging stations in Hong Kong - enough to cover 150 electric
cabs, it said.
Ding insisted that the firm has proved to the
local government that electric cabs can greatly benefit the city by
saving energy costs and better protecting the environment
“I’m calling it a failure because we lost so
much money from this project,” he said.
The automaker has made a series of investments
to support this programme, for example covering the cost of
charging stations and vehicle maintenance, he added.
He said the model fits the local market but
has nonetheless met with resistance from a number of industry
figures, especially established taxi drivers.
“The Hong Kong government already knows [all]
the figures and results, like the energy cost savings. But it
really depends on the government [to see] how far it will go in
moving forward this e-taxi plan,” he said.
It is normal for new policies from the
government to inspire a backlash until doubts are cleared up, he
said.
In another part of its electric push, BYD has
also made slow progress in pressing ahead with electric buses in
Hong Kong, Ding said.
The company has so far received orders for 14
of these in Hong Kong, but the number of orders pales compared to
other traffic-heavy markets in which it operates, he added.
BYD said last week it plans to sell 15,000
electric taxis and 6,000 electric buses this year.
Analysts say 95 per cent of these are likely
destined for China.
In April, the company won an order from the
state of California to deliver 60 electric buses.
