Applicants for new energy vehicle license plates reach over 440,000

The number of applicants for the new energy vehicle license plates has reached more than 440, 000 so far and the new applicants in July and August will have to wait nine years to acquire one, the authorities said on Sunday.

New applicants for the new energy vehicle vehicle license plates might have to wait until 2028 to buy one, according to the latest notice released by an office under the city's municipal transport commission on Sunday.

The license plate lottery has seen increased difficulty for gasoline-powered car buyers in the capital. By Aug 8, about 3.32 million people have put their names on the waiting list for a gasoline-powered car license in Beijing, compared with 442, 411 waiting for a new energy car license plate, according to the announcement.

Institutional applicants for the gasoline-powered car plates have reached to 66, 820 while 9, 575 waiting for the new energy vehicle license plates.

Based on the current vehicle license plate allocation standard in Beijing, applicants who applied for the new energy vehicle plates in July and August will wait for another nine years to have the chance of getting car plates.

Beijing began restricting the growth of new vehicles in 2011 when it adopted the license plate lottery, and in 2019 the annual car license plate quota was 100, 000, the same number as in 2018, according to the city's transport commission.

Of those issued, 54, 000 will be assigned to new energy vehicles and the remaining 38, 000 to gasoline-powered cars.