免税激励降温，特斯拉在港销量遇冷

Tesla sales screeched to a halt in the last nine months of 2017 in Hong Kong, dubbed a “beacon city” by founder Elon Musk, after the government slashed a tax waiver for electric vehicles.

特斯拉(Tesla)在香港的销量在2017年最后九个月戛然而止，此前港府削减了针对电动汽车的免税政策。该市曾被特斯拉创始人埃隆.马斯克(Elon Musk)称为“灯塔之城”。

Touted as the city with the highest number of Teslas per capita by Mr Musk in early 2016, just 32 of the company’s vehicles were registered in Hong Kong between April and December, figures from the transport department showed. That is down from nearly 2,000 in the same period in 2016.

2016年初，香港被马斯克誉为特斯拉电动车人均保有量最高的城市。但香港运输署数据显示，去年4月至12月期间，只有32辆特斯拉电动车在该市登记，远低于2016年同期的近2000辆。

Generous tax breaks had buoyed the sale of Teslas, which are ubiquitous on the streets of Hong Kong. Removal of that break almost doubles the sticker price of a Tesla Model S 75D to HK$1.03m ($132,337).

此前慷慨的税收减免推动了特斯拉的销售，使该公司的电动车在香港街头随处可见。撤销政策优惠使特斯拉Model S 75D的价格接近翻倍，达到103万港元（合13.2337万美元）。

The precipitous drop in sales for Tesla follows similar falls in other jurisdictions, such as Denmark, after the removal of tax breaks. Hong Kong ended the break under pressure from non-electric carmakers and citing overall growth in the number of private cars in the city.

特斯拉在香港的销量急剧下降之前，其他司法管辖区（如丹麦）在取消税收减免后也出现类似的下滑。香港是在非电动汽车制造商的压力之下终止这一政策优惠的，官方把该市私家车数量的整体增长列为理由。

The move also exposes an inconvenient truth for Hong Kong: electricity generation is so dirty on the island that a Tesla car charged there will be responsible for one-fifth more CO2 over its average life than an equivalent petrol guzzler, according to research from Bernstein in 2016.

此举还揭示了香港一个尴尬的真相：该市的发电如此依赖肮脏燃料，以至于根据伯恩斯坦(Bernstein) 2016年的研究，在香港充电的一辆特斯拉汽车在其平均使用寿命期间造成的二氧化碳排放量，将比同级别的汽油动力汽车高出五分之一。

Hong Kong residents rushed out to buy the premium electric vehicles in March after the first registration tax waiver for electric vehicles was capped at HK$97,500 starting from April 1 2017, bringing the estimated tax on the cheapest Model S to HK$414,035.

在港府宣布从2017年4月1日起电动私家车首次登记税宽免额以9.75万港元为上限后，香港市民在去年3月竞相购买高档电动车。新规意味着最便宜的S型车的估计税款达到41.4035万港元。

A total of 2,939 Teslas were registered in March, higher than the 2,807 vehicles registered in the whole of 2016.

去年3月共有2939辆特斯拉电动车在香港登记，高于2016年全年登记的2807辆。

Tesla did not comment on its 2017 Hong Kong sales figures and said it “remains hopeful that the government will continue to encourage more electric vehicles on the road and preserve Hong Kong’s lead in clean, sustainable living”.

特斯拉没有对其2017年的香港销量数字置评，只表示“仍然希望政府继续鼓励更多电动车上路，保持香港在清洁、可持续生活方面的领先地位”。

Edwin Lee, vice-chairman of Charged Hong Kong, which promotes EVs in the city, said the tax waiver cap came “just as we were beginning to see some take-up of EVs” and removed the incentive to buy the model over an equivalent petrol or diesel car.

在香港推广电动汽车的电动香港(Charged Hong Kong)的副主席李敬恩(Edwin Lee)表示，税收减免上限出台之际，“我们刚开始看到电动车的普及出现一些起色”，新规移除了购买电动车（而非同级别的汽油或柴油车）的激励。

Mr Lee said the move was also at odds with the government’s target of 30 per cent of private cars being electric or hybrid vehicles by 2020. At the end of 2017 1.9 per cent of private cars on the road were EVs.

李敬恩表示，此举也与政府到2020年实现30%的私家车是电动车或混合动力车的目标背道而驰。2017年底，香港只有1.9%的私家车是电动车。