SINGAPORE: Hong Kong announced on Wednesday that it is stepping up efforts to give eco-friendly cars the green light.

Some 200 electric vehicles are expected to hit the streets of Hong Kong in the next financial year. The government is said to be in talks with two power companies to launch an electric vehicle leasing scheme by the end of 2010.

LG Chemical, South Korea's largest chemical firm by sales, has also announced that it is investing US$303 million in an electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan.

However, experts in Singapore said that more education and incentives are needed for consumers to take the driver's seat in going green.

While educational institutions, such as the National University of Singapore, continue to develop green technology, more manufacturers are expected to stick a green label on future vehicles.

Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery is expected to develop electric and renewable fuel models under the Hummer brand, following General Motors' sale of its Hummer truck brand to the Chinese machine maker.

But experts said growth and demand for such products is dependent on cost.

"The pricing barrier is the one that caps the growth. But once that is capped, the cost of running the electric vehicles is 5 to 6 times less then the gasoline car and the growth will be exponential," said Lim Kian Wee, founder and executive director, AMPLE WORLD.

Driving an electric vehicle in Singapore for example could cost somewhere around S$6 to power up, in comparison to the equivalent of S$80 or S$90 in gasoline.

Moreover, to boost the efficiency of eco cars, many are looking towards technology for the answer.

"A normal car uses high engine power, whereas an eco car uses less power with less fuel - and in order to achieve that you need to avoid the wind drag. So our solutions help to identify with a test result, what is the outline of this aerodynamic contribution," said Alias Bin Mahamad, regional director, MSC Software.

However, according to some experts, more needs to be done before we can expect mass commercialisation of electric vehicles.

While eco cars are more energy efficient - saving 17 tonnes of carbon dioxide on average for its life cycle compared to a conventional car - some consumers are deterred by the long charging time, which can take as long as 5 hours.

"At the moment charging of electric vehicles takes an unacceptable length of time so there is a lot of work on developing new battery technology where you can charge quickly, or where you can switch batteries in and out to make it easier and quicker to refuel," said Dr Ian Gibson, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore.

Some estimates gauge that it would take around 11 years to replace the current global car fleet with electric vehicle solutions.

- CNA/sc