New Energy Transport Fund — Hong Kong trials

• You must be a Hong Kong-based existing transport operator, including cross-boundary operators, using commercial transport or providing transport to a charitable/nonprofit organisation’s clients. The guide defines the latter as institutions exempt from tax under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Normally you need more than two years in the relevant service and evidence of at least two years’ ownership/use of the conventional counterpart. A younger company wholly owned by an operator with more than two years’ relevant experience may submit parent-company and relationship evidence.
• You must expect to continue operating after the trial, be able to adopt the technology more widely after success, have a charging plan where needed and share results with other operators. Suppliers, manufacturers and their related companies cannot apply for their own trial product. Do not apply for or receive another Government, public-body or charitable subsidy for the same purpose; the specified environment-friendly/electric-vehicle tax incentives are excepted.
• The technology must work on sound scientific principles, be affordable, suit Hong Kong operating conditions, meet regulatory requirements and not already be widely used locally. Routine improvements to fossil-fuel vehicle emissions to meet international standards and research projects do not qualify. Trials take place in Hong Kong except for products used in cross-border operations, which must also meet the other jurisdiction’s legal requirements.
• Each application covers one technology and one transport type. Normally no more than half your conventional fleet of that type, up to four trial vehicles/vessels, can be supported; nonprofits are exempt from the half-fleet limit, and an operator owning one conventional product may trial one. Unless only one model is available, multiple products must come from different suppliers, with at most two from one supplier. Sector/technology limits are generally 15 applications or a number set by the committee; an applicant and related companies have a four-to-seven application limit depending on circumstances.
• Related companies include a direct parent owning more than 50% of the applicant, subsidiaries more than 50% owned by that parent, and subsidiaries more than 50% owned by the applicant. They share the subsidy cap. Companies with common directors or reserve directors submitting the same technology are considered for only one application. They and the applicant must wait six months after their previous same-technology trial finishes before applying again.
• For a new vessel, obtain Marine Department Approval-in-Principle before submitting, and provide construction/delivery schedules. Where charging facilities are needed, document installation rights and quote the works and timing. The Marine Department’s approval is required before starting the trial.

The Government can reject applications or disqualify funding on the stated national-security, Hong Kong public-interest, public-morals, public-order or public-safety grounds. Approval is discretionary.

For eligible new-energy vehicle trials, if two or more comparable models already have Transport Department approval (or Transport Department/Airport Authority approval for non-road vehicles), choose an approved model or series. Where no more than one comparable model is approved, another model requires evidence of an approval application or overseas approval. Tender models must already have the relevant approval or a submitted approval application; final regulatory approval is needed before starting the trial.

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• Electric commercial vehicle trials excluded since 1 April 2025; hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicle trials are also excluded.[^c3]

Use the online trial application linked on the official page, or send the completed signed and company-stamped form with supporting documents to the New Energy Transport Fund Secretariat at netf@eeb.gov.hk. Email attachments must total no more than 10 MB and use .docx, .jpg or .pdf. Postal and hand-delivery submission are also available at the Secretariat’s stated address. Choose the vessel/vehicle or emission-reduction/fuel-saving/conversion form that matches your trial.

Explain the technology, environmental benefit, proposed mileage and payload, procurement-to-trial schedule and data collection. Provide quotations, price comparisons, regulatory approval evidence and rights to install supporting facilities where relevant. Vehicle conversions require supporting approval documents from the original vehicle manufacturer. Following approval, sign the Government’s subsidy agreement; the final terms may be adapted to your trial.

Purchase within three months of signing and start within twelve months, following the agreed schedule; the normal trial lasts twelve consecutive months, subject to the committee’s advice. Use only approved products and get prior written approval for changes; an unapproved substitution will not be reimbursed.

Follow the fund’s procurement rules: normally obtain two quotations for purchases up to HK$50,000, five for purchases above HK$50,000 up to HK$1.36 million, and use open tender above HK$1.36 million. Document fewer available suppliers; an evidenced sole-supplier product can use a single quotation with Government consent. Do not split orders to evade these rules. Obtain Government approval of invitation documents at least a week before inviting bids; allow at least seven days for the lowest band and three weeks for the higher bands. Obtain consent before contracting and justify choosing anything other than the lowest compliant bid. Purchases over HK$10,000 must be paid by cheque, bank transfer or credit card.

Supplier terms must cover maintenance/repair arrangements and warranties. For new vehicles or vessels and conversions of existing ones, suppliers must specify the product and battery warranties and the battery charge level triggering free replacement. They must collect and properly treat or dispose of retired batteries at their own cost under the chemical-waste rules. Vehicle suppliers must have Hong Kong maintenance centres by delivery; vessel suppliers must identify maintenance-centre names and locations in their tender. Emission-reduction and fuel-saving device suppliers must identify centres and product warranties. Related suppliers require written Government consent: the agreement covers relatives or partners, companies with common directors, and persons controlling or controlled by the recipient, including influence through at least 30% ownership/votes. Disclose procurement interests and comply with anti-bribery rules.

For new vehicles/vessels, purchase full-market-value insurance for the first two years at least one month before trial commencement; conversion trials also require conversion cover. If damage, theft or another insured event makes the new product unusable during the trial (or during the first two years for a new vehicle), return the subsidy-rate share of insurance compensation. You bear restoration and uninstallation costs. Do not use trial products to fulfil Government contracts.

Record daily fuel/energy use, maintenance costs and downtime, with conventional-product comparisons and appropriate energy metering. Supply requested performance information within seven days and permit verification and free product testing during or after the trial. Keep procurement/payment records for at least three years after trial completion or agreement termination, whichever is later; keep trial data for one year after trial completion or termination, and observe the agreement’s one-year data-retention period after agreement completion or termination, whichever is earlier. Trial deliverable rights vest in Government; required third-party licences and moral-rights waivers are your responsibility, and findings may be shared publicly. Display the fund logo on trial products and publicity.

Do not sell or transfer products during the trial without written consent. Breaches and specified termination grounds can stop unpaid support and require full repayment. To end a trial early, notify Government in writing and obtain consent; first seek a replacement operator in the same trade. If none takes over within two months of your notice, a resaleable product must be publicly auctioned using an approved auctioneer and the subsidy-rate share of net proceeds returned. Disposal of products without resale value needs consent and must meet waste rules.

After the trial, make best efforts to keep using the product while economically feasible, and notify Government if you stop using, sell or assign it. Sale/assignment of the product (excluding specified support systems and retrofitting devices), or transfer of at least 50% of company shares to a third party, within two years after trial completion requires full repayment. Sale/assignment of the main product to associates, controlling/controlled persons or related companies is prohibited and triggers full repayment even after that period.