Beijing Car Registrations Could Be Top For Electric

Overcrowding is a huge problem in Beijing, to the point where new car registration comes down to a lottery system…unless you purchase a plug-in or electric vehicle. Is Beijing poised to become the electric car capital of the world?

Bertel Schmitt writing for The Truth About Cars certainly seems to think so, and not without good reason. Beijing has been registering, on average, 2,000 new cars a day, or over 700,000 cars every year for the past few years. Attempts to curb congestion (like the 10 day traffic jam) have led to some interesting edicts, like having to leave your car at home every other day depending on the last digit of your license plate. Cars registered outside of the “5th Ring” of the city are not allowed within the city limits on certain days and curtailing new car registrations via a lottery system. These restrictions have destroyed the car market in the city, with 9 out of 10 people winning the license plate lottery not even bothering to buy a car. It ain’t easy being a car owner in Beijing.

But it could get a whole lot easier if you buy a new electric vehicle. Beijing officials announced last week that plug-in or electric car buyers will not have to enter the lottery to receive registration plates for their cars. Nor will they be restricted from entering the city during rush hour. On top of all that, their car taxes will be paid for by the government, and there are generous tax incentives that could pay upwards of half the cost of a new plug-in or electric car. The problem? Well, the Chinese can’t really buy any electric cars right now because there aren’t many available. BYD is the only Chinese carmaker that you could theoretically buy an EV from…but they’re not commercially available. Whoops?