Beijing will be introducing a 60,000-yuan subsidy for electric vehicles, similar to the subsidies by the central government, in an effort to increase sales and decrease smog in the city, which is among the most polluted. Deputy
Head of local government in charge of development of vehicles powered by alternative energy, Chen Guiru stated in a conference that the Beijing government will be announcing financial aid measures in addition to the central government subsidy.
China, with the unenviable title of having 16 of the most polluted cities in the world, is making efforts to increase incentives for the sale of electric vehicles with sales not looking like they would reach the government’s 500,000- and 5 million-unit target by 2015 and 2020 respectively. Bloomberg New Energy Finance explains that this is likely because of high cost and a lack of infrastructure to support these cars.
Another incentive is that electric car owners would not need to purchase a license plate through a Beijing auction as is requisite in conventional gasoline vehicles.
The government of Beijing also has planned subsidies for buying plug-in hybrids, according to Chen. Further plans include increasing the City’s electric bus fleet, street cleaners and taxis to around 5,000 in the coming months, in contrast to the about 3,000 now in use.
Last year, Beijing increased the number of subway routes to 16 with four new subway routes. With a population in excess of 20 million, the Chinese capital already has limits on how many new cars are registered as well as how private cars may be used on certain days, depending on the number on their license plates. Also, the government revealed in August that there were plans to construct a road-congestion charging system.
