3 years after implementing the vehicle lottery system in 2011, the municipal government of Beijing released a revised version of the license plate lottery scheme for 2014-2017 last Thursday (28.11.2013).
According to the new plan, the license plate quota will be reduced from 240,000 to 150,000 new licenses per year. Newly introduced is a quota for new energy vehicles (NEVs, currently so called new energy vehicles only refer to full electric vehicles), that will be increased from 20,000 in 2014 to 60,000 in 2017. Additionally to the quota changes, the lottery cycle will be changed to every two months, effective from February 2014 onwards.
The table below shows the yearly license plate quota for 2014-2017
| Year | Regular gasoline car | NEV | Total |
| 2014 | 130,000 | 20,000 | 150,000 |
| 2015 | 120,000 | 30,000 | 150,000 |
| 2016 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 150,000 |
| 2017 | 90,000 | 60,000 | 150,000 |
| Total | 430,000 | 170,000 | 600,000 |
So far the plan does not introduce a license plate quota for central government’s cars in Beijing. But the new restriction is valid for municipal government agencies and institutions. Nevertheless, the central government plans to run 5000 new energy vehicles by 2017. The number of non-official new energy vehicles is supposed to reach 195,000 by 2017.
The new scheme will favour early applicants. It is going to double the winning chances for applicants who have been in the the lottery for more than 25 times but less than 36 times; afterwards the winning chances will be tripled. NEVs will get a license plate for sure as long as the quota is not fully tapped, afterwards a separate lottery pool for NEV applicants is planned. However, each applicant can only apply for one vehicle type (either regular car or NEVs).
For detailed information and original source, please visit Beijing government’s website: http://zhengwu.beijing.gov.cn/gzdt/gggs/t1332605.htm
