ELECTRIC and new energy vehicles will get one hour of free roadside parking each day in the latest bid by Shenzhen authorities to promote clean energy cars.

    According to yesterday’s Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, the city’s road traffic center is now working with planning and police authorities on a detailed policy. It is not yet known when it will be implemented.

    The Daily cited the road traffic center as saying that new energy vehicles and electric cars will be required to register separately from regular vehicles in order to be recognized by the automated license plate recognition system used by traffic police.

    Electric vehicles and new energy vehicles will have a different type of license plate after they undergo a separate registration from fuel-powered vehicles.

    The road monitoring system will also be updated to automatically recognize electric and new energy vehicles.

    According to a regulation issued by the city government in January, electric and new energy vehicles can enjoy free roadside parking for up to an hour each day. That means the owner of an electric car or a new energy car can save up to 15 yuan (US$2.42) a day on roadside parking.

    The city government has spared no effort to promote electric and new energy vehicles by offering a subsidy of up to 60,000 yuan per electric vehicle to car buyers. A subsidy is also offered to taxi companies for each fuel-powered cab they replace.

    The new car registration limit of 100,000 new vehicles per year is also being used to promote electric vehicles, with 20 percent of the quota being reserved for electric and new energy vehicles.

    Despite the incentives, Shenzheners seem unready to turn to electric vehicles, which are considered inconvenient due to the time it takes to charge them and the limited number of charging stations in the city.

    During the first five car-registration lotteries, electric vehicle registration plates were left over, while registration spots for fuel-powered cars saw 50 applicants for every registration spot.

    This means that Shenzhen residents are almost guaranteed a registration spot if they buy a new energy vehicle.

    (Han Ximin)