The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will procure the first batch of 10 Mitsubishi electric vehicles, the iMiEV, later this year to help combat air pollution, the top environment official said here Monday.

The move demonstrates the government's commitment to promoting the use of electric vehicles as a means to combat air pollution and climate change, said Edward Yau, HKSAR Government Secretary for the Environment.

He made the remarks after the second meeting of the Steering Committee on the Promotion of Electric Vehicles, adding that Hong Kong's two power companies are working with car park operators on the installation of charging facilities.

"The Government has been pursuing collaboration with various electric vehicle manufacturers including Mitsubishi, Nissan and BYD. We also began the trial on Mitsubishi's electric vehicle iMiEV in May," Yau said.

"So far the testing results have been positive. The first batch supply of iMiEV will be launched progressively before April 2010,"he said.

The government will procure 10 units in this batch for deployment in different bureaus and departments, he said.

"This will enable us to test the performance of electric vehicles comprehensively under different operational environments," Yau noted.

Hong Kong is the first market in Asia, other than Japan, where iMiEVs will be sold before April 2010, he said.

Yau hoped more electric vehicle manufacturers will follow the example in pitching Hong Kong as one of the priority markets for the introduction of electric vehicles.

Source:Xinhua