New World Development Company Ltd (NWD) announced Thursday that the group has initiated the New World Green Transport Alliance (NWGTA) and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Shell Hong Kong Ltd (Shell) and Sime Darby Motors Group, who joined hands to commit HK$50 million ($6.37 million) to the alliance over a three-to-five-year period.
With a founding mission to advocate for a greener lifestyle and scale up electric vehicle (EV) usage, NWGTA will install over 100 universal electric vehicle (EV) charging points in Hong Kong from the fourth quarter of 2022, NWD said in a statement.
Shell and Sime Darby Motors will collaborate with the New World Ecosystem for EV rewards program, promotional activities and more.
According to the statement, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced the Hong Kong roadmap on the popularization of EV in March last year. The roadmap guides Hong Kong’s future direction to attain zero vehicular emissions before 2050, cease the new registration of fuel-propelled private cars including hybrid vehicles in 2035 or earlier, along with other measures.
One of the missions of NWGTA is to support the Hong Kong community to achieve these targets. Therefore, NWD is teaming up with global enterprises Shell and Sime Darby Motors to equip the NWD portfolio, including K11 MUSEA, K11 Art Mall, K11 ATELIER King’s road and more, with over 100 hassle-free charging points that are compatible with the majority of EV models in the market; some points support fast charging from 10 percent to 80 percent within 60 minutes.
“In the spirit of creating shared value (CSV) to address social needs and commit to a sustainable future, we initiated the NWGTA in collaboration with like-minded partners to echo with the government’s initiatives to enable a wider use of EV,
“By installing EV infrastructure under our extensive property portfolios, we aim to foster and further green mobility at scale in Hong Kong,” said Jay Liu, General Manager, Strategic Alliances of NWD.
To inspire the local community to a sustainable lifestyle, NWD will explore a charge-to-earn joint rewards program with Shell, in which K Dollar will work in tandem with the Shell Bonus Point scheme: the more frequent use of the Shell Recharge charging points, the more K Dollar rewards.
Meanwhile, Sime Darby Motors will launch a self-developed mobile app to enhance customer experience, supporting the status of charging point availability, notification of charging progress and online payment.
Shell and Sime Darby Motors will also engage in multi-layered partnerships with different NWD companies, including pop-up EV exhibition and potential collaboration on key events in the New World Ecosystem.
“Shell’s goal of tackling climate change synchronizes with the city’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Thanks to our strategic sustainable partner NWD, we are accelerating the expansion of our Shell Recharge footprint in Hong Kong, driving energy transition and green transport together,” said Emily Leung, General Manager, Mobility Hong Kong & Macau, Shell Hong Kong Limited.
Raymond Lee, Managing Director, Greater China, Sime Darby Motors Group (HK) limited, said: “We are delighted to enter into this MOU as it aligns with our focus on EV development in Hong Kong. The group strives to play an active role in achieving the vision of sustainable futures across the automotive value chain and continues to refine and manage the carbon emissions and energy consumption levels in all aspects, especially in the mobility sector.”
The universal EV charging points will start to be installed from the fourth quarter of 2022, with further details on the EV charging points and other green transport campaigns to be announced in due course.
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