Shanghai local authorities have ??? ??continued their policy of issuing free license plates for battery electric vehicles for another year starting Jan. 1. However, they have lifted the requirements for applicants aiming to promote green vehicles while restricting vehicle ownership to control the city’s traffic. Individuals are now required to have received social security payments for at least 36 months consistently, rather than 24 months as previously stated, before applying for free license plates for their electric vehicles. This information comes from a document released by the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, along with four other government departments. The updated regulation has also tightened the requirements pertaining to institutions’ applications for EV license plates. It details that businesses should have at least five employees covered by social security or pay their taxes for more than a year. Shanghai initiated restrictions on the sales of gasoline vehicles in 1994. Buyers have to bid for license plates through auctions and lotteries, boosting EV sales to more than 262,000 units in the city for the first 10 months of this year, the highest among Chinese cities. [Shanghai gov announcement, in Chinese]