Underdeveloped charging facilities remain major obstacle
New-energy vehicles (NEVs) are expected to get another boost in Beijing, as the number of car plates allocated for fuel cars might be reduced significantly while NEVs are to be granted more plates next year, recent media reports said.
The number of car plates for fuel cars may be reduced by one-third, Beijing-based newspaper the Economic Observer reported on Sunday, citing sources close to the matter.
According to a plan announced by Beijing transportation authorities in 2013, a total of 150,000 car plates will be issued next year, with 90,000 car plates allocated for fuel cars and 60,000 for NEVs.
However, the number for fuel cars may now be reduced to 60,000 while that for NEVs is expected to be hiked to 90,000 next year. But in another possible scenario, plate numbers for both sectors will be capped at around 60,000, according to the report.
According to the plan, a total of 120,000 plates are expected to be issued to fuel cars and 30,000 are for NEVs in 2015.
An employee from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport said Monday that it still had not received any information on car plate allocation for next year.
But either scenario will be a boost for NEVs, as the plates for NEVs will be greatly increased next year.
The Beijing government has already stepped up efforts to encourage the purchase of NEVs. On October 26, when the results for the latest round of car plate lotteries were announced, all the 17,150 applicants for NEVs were given a plate, compared with a ratio of 38 percent in the previous lottery.
The results for Beijing's next round of lotteries is scheduled to be announced on December 26. So far, applicant numbers for NEVs have reached around 20,000, and the success ratio will remain at 100 percent, given the Beijing government's efforts to boost the acceptance of NEVs, according to the report.
There are also other perks for NEV owners in Beijing. Since June 1, electric cars have been exempt from Beijing's traffic restrictions based on the last digit of license plate numbers, Beijing transportation authorities announced. The exemption will last until April 10, 2016.
In the first nine months of this year, around 23,200 units of NEVs were sold in Beijing in both the private and public sectors. And Shanghai, where NEV plate applicants do not need to go through the plate auction process, saw roughly the same number of NEVs sold during the period, according to data released during an NEV forum held in Shenzhen on November 26.
Nationwide, the market is also surging. A total of 171,100 units of NEVs were sold during the period, up 290 percent year-on-year, according to data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
"Consumers have been learning more about NEVs during the past two years. But the growing knowledge of NEVs is still not enough to alter people's purchasing decisions," Wu Shuocheng, a Shanghai-based independent analyst, told the Global Times on Monday, adding that it is still a policy-driven market.
In Beijing, NEV car plates are only granted to consumers who have purchased purely electric cars. Buyers of hybrids still need to go through the lottery process as regular fuel cars. But Wu noted that it is easier to promote hybrids in China at present, given the underdeveloped state of charging facilities and battery technology.
Unlike Beijing, the favorable policy in Shanghai is also applicable to buyers of plug-in hybrids. But to avoid the possibility of people only using the fuel power in the hybrids, starting this year buyers of hybrids have had to install a charging pole first in order to get the NEV plate.
