All Chinese cities will issue special green plates for electric vehicles (EVs) next year as over a million are now zapping along the country's roads, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said Sunday.
To boost the EV industry, the MPS has decided to issue green plates to differentiate electric cars from other vehicles. "The green plates are more recognizable and clearly show the features of EVs," the MPS website reads.
The new plates will have a green background rather than the normal blue and have six digits instead of five.
All cities in China will issue green plates by the first half of 2018, China Central Television quoted the MPS as saying.
Five cities in China - Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuxi, Ji'nan and Shenzhen - have piloted green plates since December 2016. More than 76,000 special plates for EVs have been issued in these cities so far.
Starting on November 10 several more cities including Baoding, Hebei Province; Changchun, Jilin Province; and Chengdu, Sichuan Province will issue the green plates.
The MPS said the new green plates will feature anti-forgery technology, including QR codes and laser patterns, in an attempt to prevent them from being copied or stolen.
The owners of EVs need to register with their local traffic management departments to get the plates.
Those whose EVs already have plates can exchange their blue plates for the new green ones, the MPS said.
There was no official explanation of any benefits having the green plate will bring to drivers.
