在北京买电动车共容易

You're unlikely to see an electric car on the streets of Beijing. But city authorities want to change that.

Currently, only a limited amount of vehicle license plates are issued each month. So getting one can take a long time, and needs a lot of luck. But the Beijing government says electric car buyers can now skip the queue to register their vehicle immediately. They may also qualify for a subsidy of up to 19 thousand dollars.

But despite the financial help, electric cars are still expensive.

Zhou Li Xuan is a clean transport analyst for international environmental consultancy China Greentech Initiative.

"We don't think this policy will make a big impact in the near term because, as we know, the cost of electric vehicles is very high, normally about twice or 3 times more expensive than a similar traditional car."

On top of the expense, there's also very few recharging stations in the city. But that should change soon as the government plans to build four thousand over the next four years and another six thousand by 2020.

And experts predict the price of electric cars will eventually come down.

Jacques de Selliers is head of Going-Electric, a Brussels-based organization lobbying for greater use of electric vehicles.

"Just think of the first mobile phones 25 years ago. They weighed 900 grams and cost four thousand dollars. Today they weigh a few tens of grams and cost down to a few tens of dollars. Mass production and technological generalization can ultimately bring the price very significantly down. However, it doesn't happen over night."

If electric cars are eventually going to catch on in China, it's the public that needs to be persuaded. But are they?

"Recharging will be an issue. And I think electric cars are less powerful than normal vehicles. But they are environmentally friendly."

"People in Beijing will buy them! The new policy will make it quicker to apply for registration."

"We could do with more electric cars in Beijing. Protecting the environment is very important now. The air pollution is not so good in the city."

China has high hopes for the electric car market. By 2020 the country plans to be producing one million of the new vehicles per year.

For CRI, I'm Dominic Swire.