Why Elon Musk says Hong Kong will be the 'beacon city' for electric cars

With booming sales and more than 1,000 public charging spots, Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted the city would be a leader on electric car adoption

Hong Kong's population density, efficient public transportation and general lack of space hardly provide incentive to buy a private car. High registration taxes on new vehicles - up to 115% of the price portion above HK$500,000 (45,000) - make anyone balk. The heavy levy is meant to reduce road traffic and street level emissions, which is the main contributor to the port city's air pollution.

Yet, in the past two years, the city has seen a boom in registrations for new electric vehicles (EVs), thanks to a tax waiver passed by legislators that will last until March 2017. Now it's hard to walk down any street in Hong Kong without spotting at least a couple of electric cars quietly rolling by (they're almost all Teslas, and red seems to be a favourite colour).