This is a big weekend in the world of auto racing. There’s a NASCAR race in North Carolina, a Formula One Race in Japan, and a more unusual contest going on in Hong Kong. HPR’s Bill Dorman has the details in today’s Asia Minute.
It’ll be wheels down this weekend in Hong Kong…for the opening contest of the third season of the global Formula E auto races. That’s “e” for “electric cars.” The races are generally run in the downtown section of various cities. The first one took place in Beijing….and this weekend cars will be quietly whizzing around the streets of the Hong Kong business district known as Central. Organizers expect 18,000 to 20,000 people to watch the races on Saturday and Sunday…underlining the fact that electric cars are more popular than they used to be in Hong Kong.
The South China Morning Post says three years ago, there were fewer than 600 electric vehicles in the city…today there are more than 6,000. Six thousand electric cars, but not a lot of places to plug them in…only about 14-hundred public charging stations. Hong Kong’s government is well aware of the charging gap. In fact the city’s Environment Minister suggests “potential buyers should consider charging arrangements before buying electric vehicles.” Still, the best-selling model of any car last year in Hong Kong was electric---the Tesla Model S---with more than 2,200 vehicles quietly rolling out of salesrooms.
