Shanghai, December 11 (Gasgoo.com) This week Shanghai's economic planning body has denied earlier media reports that the city was trying to boost sales of cleaner energy cars by offering free license plates to go with these vehicles, CCTV.com said.
The Shanghai Municipal Economic and Information Commission said the plan is a good idea but would be very difficult to implement. The planner claimed it has studied the possibility of free license plates for new energy cars, but fears the program would cause more problems then it would solve.
At present, auto consumers in Shanghai can only get their vehicles registered through car plate auctions. The average minimum cost for a car plate stands at 30,000 yuan ($4,390).
The commission said the municipality is still working on other related programs to help buyers offset the higher purchase costs of new energy vehicles. Extra subsidies may be offered to buyers of eco-friendly vehicles which consume less energy.
The city will help its public transportation sector offset some battery costs for running electric buses. A battery-electric-bus is priced about 2 million yuan. Shanghai has set up an e-bus battery renting firm, due to serve the 2010 World Expo first.
