Does the Macchiato use a green or blue license plate?
2 Answers
Macchiato uses a blue license plate. Below is an introduction to the colors of license plates: Blue with white characters: Generally, these are exclusive to small vehicles, but not limited to sedans. Passenger vehicles with fewer than 9 seats and commercial trucks with a load capacity of less than 1.5 tons can also use blue plates. Yellow with black characters: Vehicles with yellow plates mainly include: large cargo trucks, ordinary M2-class light passenger vehicles, medium and large passenger vehicles, agricultural-use vehicles, trailers, minivans with 10 seats or more, cargo trucks with a load capacity of over 1.0 tons, etc. White with black characters: White plates are commonly seen on vehicles of public security departments, judicial departments, procuratorates, armed police forces, PLA units, and other national authority institutions. Black with white characters: The first type of black plate is the Yue Z plate issued by the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department, mainly facilitating travel between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. Another type is for foreign institutions in China, such as consulates, which can have black plates, representing official vehicles of the embassy. These vehicles may also display the national flag. Green with black characters: These are plates for new energy vehicles promoted in recent years, but not all new energy vehicles can use green plates. Pure electric vehicles (PEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) can use green plates, while hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) cannot.
I drive a WEY Macchiato, which is a plug-in hybrid model, so it must have a green license plate instead of a blue one. The main reason I chose it after driving it for over a year is the convenience brought by the green plate. In big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, it's exempt from traffic restrictions, so I can drive it any day of the week without worrying about the lottery system for license plates—getting the plate directly is hassle-free. The energy efficiency is fantastic; for daily commuting, I use the pure electric mode, which can run for dozens of kilometers with almost no fuel consumption. Charging costs just a few cents, and a full charge can be done at home with a charging station. The fuel consumption is as low as under 2L/100km when fully charged. Friends often ask me why my license plate is a different color, and I always explain that it's due to the new energy policy supporting green-plate vehicles, which also exempts them from purchase tax and offers subsidies worth thousands of yuan. Driving an eco-friendly and quiet car is worth considering, so families thinking about buying an electric or hybrid vehicle should give it a try.
