New measures to promote new-energy vehicles

Shanghai has announced a new round of measures to boost the purchase and use of new-energy vehicles, aiming to improve the city's air quality, reduce its carbon footprint, and promote the development of the NEV industry.

The measures, which will take effect from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024, include continuing to provide free special license quotas for NEV buyers while adjusting the eligibility criteria for some applicants.

The new measures have made some revisions compared with the previous round of policies, which will expire on December 31, 2023, mainly in the following three aspects:

• The application requirements for some individual users have been adjusted. For those who hold the Shanghai residence permit, the measures have changed the requirement of paying social insurance or personal income tax for at least 12 months in the 24 months before the application date, to paying social insurance or personal income tax continuously for 36 months in the city before the application date.
• The measures have also adjusted the condition of owning a vehicle for individual applicants. The previous policy required that the individual applicant didn't have an NEV registered with the city's special license quota, while the revised measures add some additional requirements that the applicant doesn't hold a non-commercial passenger vehicle quota certificate, nor a motor vehicle (excluding motorcycles) registered with the non-commercial passenger vehicle quota.
• The measures have also adjusted the application requirements for unit users. For unit users who apply for NEV licenses, there's the added requirement of having more than five employees who pay social insurance in the city, or have been paying taxes continuously for one year in the city before the application date, on top of the previous requirement of having a good credit status.