New energy cars in Beijing. (File photo/China News Service)
(ECNS) -- Some applicants in Beijing may wait as long as eight years to receive the license plate required for a new-energy vehicle, according to data released on Tuesday.
By June 8, more than 3.26 million individual purchasers and 62,596 organizations had applied to get plates for gasoline-powered cars.
The number of individual drivers and organizations applying for new-energy vehicle plates reached 430,656 and 8,802 respectively.
The annual quota of 54,000 new-energy vehicle plates in Beijing has already been filled, meaning that remaining applicants could wait up to eight years to be issued an owner's license.
Beijing introduced a license plate lottery system in 2011 to curb the growth rate of new automobiles in the metropolis. Under the system potential car buyers must participate in a lottery, which takes place every two months, for a purchase permit.
