Shanghai to subsidise NEV sales

China's Shanghai government will offer a subsidy of 5,000 yuan/unit ($704/unit) to new energy vehicle (NEVs) buyers before 31 December this year, following the central government's stimulus plans to boost sales.

The subsidy can be used to pay electricity charges when they use personal charging facilities in Shanghai, as well as electricity charges and service charges when they charge the vehicle in public or special charging facilities in the city.

Shanghai is also planning to stimulate NEV use for public transport. The city is on target to introduce 2,500 new electric buses by the end of this year to fully electrify public buses in downtown and the suburbs. It is also set to allocate 5,000 all-electric taxi licences by the end of this year.

The Shanghai government is projected to build 15 taxi charging stations each year for demonstration and will provide financial subsidies to them. Taxis that use municipal charging facilities will benefit from an additional subsidy of Yn0.4/kWh this year.

The municipal government will offer free licence plates to NEV buyers and allow buyers to keep the purchase quota for fuel vehicles when they buy a NEV.

China in April announced that it will extend government subsidies on NEVs for two years to the end of 2022 and exempt the purchase tax on NEVs for next year and 2022.

Other provincial governments in China have also taken various measures to boost NEV sales. Hainan will offer a subsidy of Yn10,000/unit to NEV buyers until 31 December, following steps introduced by the Guangzhou municipal government and Sichuan province.

China produced 80,000 NEVs in April, up by 60pc from March but down by 22.1pc from a year previously. Sales grew by 35.8pc from March but down by 26.5pc from a year earlier to 72,000 units, according to data from China's automotive manufacturers association.