What do the letters in a car license plate number represent?

[DiJaxson]

Car license plate letters represent a specific city or district within a province or municipality. A car license plate, also known as a vehicle registration plate, serves the following purposes: 1. Identifying the vehicle's region of registration through the plate number; 2. Enabling tracing of the vehicle's owner and registration details based on the plate number. Car license plates are categorized by their applicable scope into: 1. Special plates for new energy vehicles; 2. Plates for large vehicles; 3. Plates for small vehicles; 4. Trailer plates. The installation method for car license plates is as follows: 1. Align the plate with the vehicle's mounting points, ensuring it is straight and properly positioned; 2. Insert the screw rods into the mounting holes and secure them with a flat-head screwdriver; 3. Snap the four screw caps into place in sequence.

[AdelineFitz]

Last time I helped a friend with license plates, I researched this. The first Chinese character on the plate is the abbreviation of the province, and the letters represent different cities within the province. For example, Yue A is Guangzhou, Yue B is Shenzhen, and so on. The second letter, like the B and C in A123BC, is actually a random combination, but different letter combinations reflect the nature of the vehicle. Police cars and consular vehicles have specific starting letters. New energy vehicle plates are more obvious, with letters D/F indicating pure electric or hybrid vehicles. I heard some cities are starting to use new letters, and when license plate resources are tight, letters like Y and Z from the back of the alphabet are activated. The letter arrangement actually contains a lot of practical information; when driving on the highway, you can tell roughly which region a car is from by looking at the letters on the front plate.

[OAdeline]

When picking up and dropping off kids to school, I often observe license plates. The first Chinese character represents the province, as we all know. For example, our 'Su E' stands for Suzhou. The letter combinations actually follow certain patterns. Among the first five digits, apart from random combinations, letters can indicate differences in vehicle types. Taxis have dedicated letter segments, while new energy green plates directly use D/F to distinguish between pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Recently, I've noticed more license plates with the letter V on the road. A friend at the vehicle management office mentioned that this is a measure to expand the pool when urban license plate numbers are in short supply. The letter arrangement is more methodical than imagined. For instance, police vehicles start with specific letters, and consular vehicles also have dedicated sequences. It's quite interesting to look into the details.

[LeGriffin]

When dealing with used cars, license plates are often used to identify vehicle sources, and those letters are more than just codes. The first letter after the province represents the city's tier within the province, with 'B' often indicating a developed city outside the provincial capital. The letters in the sequence are now mostly random, but early license plate letter segments can reveal the registration year—for example, Beijing 'A' plates from the 1980s are now quite rare. New energy vehicle plates intentionally increase spacing and use exclusive 'D'/'F' letters, with hybrid green plates frequently starting with 'F'. Interestingly, motorcycle plate letter rules are even more complex; when transporting across regions, the plate letters can help estimate the vehicle's registration year and origin.