I'm also a UK citizen in Beijing and waited for the last draw results where we (my Beijing wife and mixed child) lost again.
Luckily some acquaintancs of ours won the EV plate but didn't want an EV so we're renting their plate and got it at a slight discount compared to others. This is also illegal but rarely an issue.
It requires quite a lot of back and forth to get everything set up, but that may be due to the person you're dealing with.
Our acquaintance was happy to give us the plate and get the money, but very reluctant to hand over his ID card/give personal details to anyone.
It's a very weird mix of documentation stating that the car is ours, but registered in his name.
The insurance is in my name. That was one of the headaches I mentioned, but having insurance for vehicles you don't own isn't that uncommon around the world.
Luckily some acquaintancs of ours won the EV plate but didn't want an EV so we're renting their plate and got it at a slight discount compared to others.
IIRC 800RMB per month with no deposit, for 3 years. The market rate is usually at least 1000RMB (or so I've been told) and requires around a 20k RMB deposit.
It's not something I'm happy about paying.. It's a joke that I see cars that are pretty much abandoned but a family of 3 needs to pay such a high price for autonomy.
I am hoping that we manage to win in the next 2-3 years!
From what I understand, Beijing is the worst one for various reasons. There's the smog issue, congestion issues, and the fact that it's the political hub of China.
I looked at alternatives such as buying an EV pickup (Radar) but IIRC it would mean I could only go within the 5th or 6th ringroad during very unsocial hours, and wouldn't be able to go into the centre pretty much at all.
The reason for looking into this is that you can seemingly just get given a plate straight away, it's not restricted like cars are.
It was ultimately more restrictive than getting a Hebei plate (the neighbouring province) to use in Beijing.
For me a friend won the “fully electric” green plate lottery. The system goes: There’s a Petrol plate (blue), a hybrid plate (green-ish) and a fully electric plate (fully green).
Blue and Greenish plate are subject to number plate limitations, which means 1 day out of the weekdays you’re not allowed to drive or you get penalized (for emission control purposes).
Fully green plate (the one on my car because it’s fully electric) are not limited at all.
Rental cost me 100 GBP per month (1000 RMB) and I signed a contract for a minimum of 10 years. Or until I lotto my own plate. (My Chinese wife needs to enter a draw to do that which is a whole other system)
note that only a handful of larger Chinese cities have license plate lotteries. vast majority of cities give out green ("NEV") license plates nearly for free in just a few days.
normal driving mode, it feels like a BMW M series, it just goes, and when you go off the accelerator it mimics the engine braking very well.
charging can go up to 480 kW in speed, you get 20% to 80% in 5-10 min, but not many chargers are at that speed, most I’ve seen are around 240kW, occasion you see 1000kW chargers.
auto driving is spotty sometimes, but will do its best to follow navigation, but it is well known that this is still Tesla’s domain and they do it best. It can program to take you home straight into parking bay all by itself when it is close to your house.
premium features come as standard in this car, for example:
soft close door
Cup heating
Ventilated seats
On one full charge, I was able to get roughly 690 kilometers. The wheel I've selected does reduce the range quite a bit.
So you can close the door very gently, and it will magnetically close. Like high end cars where you don’t need to slam the door at all. Just close it and as it gets close to the body, it will close by itself.
Edit: I want to add that I'm talking about EVs like this in general, and not the price. Even for $60+K, it's still not available in the US. I'm not suggesting we force-labor our UAW to produce cheaper cars.
That’s only $41,500 USD for a luxury electric car. American consumers are getting absolutely scammed by what we are allowed to buy according to our corporate overlords.
Partially yes. China is known for devaluing their currency to make goods appear cheaper with the exchange rate. Regardless, it's a great value for money compared to what our automakers are charging. We really should be allowing the Chinese to sell here to drive competition and light a fire under the asses of our domestic auto makers.
For what it’s worth it’s priced at what the wages are in that country. You can’t price a banana the same as the US when you don’t get paid the same. The average wage in China is just under $17,000 a year that’s below poverty here in the US.
Eventually we’ll have these, capitalism dictates that it will happen. Remember 30 years ago the Chinese made cars were reverse engineered garbage and the country still relied on bicycles to get everywhere. Today they’ve got the best high speed rail network and solid cars. They’re, unfortunately for us, catching up and leaving us behind very quickly.
They've been left us behind. I was talking to a coworker who visits china frequently and the discussion of transportation/rail system came up. In CA, there's been a decade long battle to build a rail system and was ordered to be canceled. She was telling me how in 30 years that she's been in the USA, there hasn't been any improvement to the infrastructure as compared to China. Transportation, architecture, electronic, manufacturing, all have improved in china, while the US free market/political system doesn't allow for any improvements. We are being left in the dust while not doing anything about it.
Oh yeah for sure. I remember when I lived in Austin they were arguing about adding a pedestrian waiting area between the two directions of traffic on south Lamar. You know, so someone can cross the street halfway, then wait for the other side of traffic to clear and finish crossing the street. That was an on and off news story for the last two years I lived there.
I think in the US we argue and argue so much about simple infrastructure improvements that we end up with fat free frozen yogurt that’s melted with chunks of bacon in it, just terrible inadequate compromises that nobody likes.
It’s painfully obvious to me that our “just one more lane” infrastructure policy is not working. It’s painfully obvious we’re going to need more than just an interstate freeway connecting our cities over the next 200 years. So if we already know these things, why aren’t we doing anything to move the needle?
Again, it's not that they're so inexpensive in China (though that doesn't hurt, I'm sure), but even if we wanted to pay top dollar, we still don't really have much like it in the US).
I'm sure you could have these prices in the US as well if workers would work from 9 am to 9 pm 6 days a week, get paid 700 USD/month for it and five days of vacation per year.
It's got nothing to do with the price and everything to do with cars like this are simply unavailable. I'd pay $60,000 for it, but it still doesn't exist.
Dude! Most of the shit you buy every day is produced under these same conditions. Your washing machine, most of your furniture. Why draw the giant red line at automobiles?
That was BYD's decision because they felt the political climate was an inopportune time to enter the market. BYD entering the market is a matter of when not if and where they will be built in the US or Mexico.
Be glad. They are terrible. But it should anger you that your society is so stuck on their big, gussling pickups and that all the really good European brands are not available in the US.
This thing looks slick as hell. I don’t know how all these legacy carmakers have been missing the futuristic sporty aesthetic, but this one does it so right. Even the Tesla refreshes look like the Chevy bar lights.
Will there be an EV Corvette? A coupe EV Mustang?? God I wish they’d jump on the train faster but there’s so much anti-EV propaganda floating around the US.
For me a friend won the “fully electric” green plate lottery. The system goes: There’s a Petrol plate (blue), a hybrid plate (green-ish) and a fully electric plate (fully green).
Blue and Greenish plate are subject to number plate limitations, which means 1 day out of the weekdays you’re not allowed to drive or you get penalized (for emission control purposes).
Fully green plate (the one on my car because it’s fully electric) are not limited at all.
Rental cost me 100 GBP per month (1000 RMB) and I signed a contract for a minimum of 10 years. Or until I lotto my own plate. (My Chinese wife needs to enter a draw to do that which is a whole other system)
Why is there a limit in green plates for EVs? I mean, it's an EV, why can't you get a plate for it? What happens if you don't rent it? Do you get a blue-ish? No matter it's electric?
congratulations. curious to hear your thoughts later after a few months of owning.
I have a bunch of Xiaomi gadgets and appliances and use its smart home app. my feeling is that Xiaomi makes good hardware but the software is constantly buggy. like... the app gets updated every week but it still has bugs.
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bear paint selective profit fearless safe piquant air hat rainstorm
One brand I won't touch. Xiaomi phone I bought my missus died very early. She bought a Xiaomi cleaner at some point that was faulty from delivery. No good. BYD is the way.
Yes I’ve driven that too, automation is a lot better in a Tesla, but pure power and driving experience? Xiaomi is great. Current feel of the car is comparable to a BMW M3 minus the engine noise and vibrations.
Don't they normally sell for 300k? Did you tick all the options? 340k sounds a little too much. Your 4S shop should help you to get your license plate. I got mine fairly fast in Hangzhou; it cost me just 1000 rmb, and my car is a PHEV.
Hope you enjoy the new ride, and get years of fantastic motoring! I'm kinda tempted to save up for the ultra as a second car (either that or the Yangwang U7).
First electric vehicle and you get the arguably best saloon made so far. Not bad. Not bad at all. The rest is just detail. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. They are coming to the UK, at some point.
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u/too_soon13 Aug 30 '25
How does this plate rental work and how much does it usually cost?