When did the Shanghai National V emission standard come into effect?
3 Answers
Shanghai's National V emission standard was implemented on May 1, 2014. Starting from April 30 (excluding the 30th), Shanghai began to implement the fifth phase of the national motor vehicle emission standard in advance, while ceasing the registration of National IV standard vehicles. However, there are three exceptions for National IV standard vehicles purchased by users before April 30. Starting from May 1, the registration of National IV standard vehicles will be discontinued, except for vehicles meeting one of the following three conditions: 1. National IV vehicles purchased by users on or before April 30. 2. National IV vehicles in stock that have been registered with the local environmental protection department and for which a sales contract was signed or a unified motor vehicle sales invoice was issued on or before April 30. 3. National IV vehicles transferred from other provinces to Shanghai on or before April 30, with the registration time (including transfers from other provinces) subject to the acceptance time of the local public security vehicle management department.
The Shanghai National V emission standard was officially implemented on April 1, 2016. At that time, due to the relatively severe air pollution problem, Shanghai took the lead in implementing National V, more than a year earlier than the nationwide unified timeline. As a local resident, I remember many friends had to ensure their new cars met National V standards back then, otherwise they couldn't be registered. In fact, as early as 2014, Shanghai had implemented a National V transitional policy for diesel vehicles, and it wasn't until 2016 that gasoline vehicles were fully covered. Looking back now, this policy did help reduce the number of smoggy days in Shanghai, but it also caused some headaches at the time, such as the sharp drop in second-hand prices for older National IV vehicles. Fortunately, now that National VI has been introduced, National V vehicles can still operate normally on the roads.
I bought my car in Shanghai in 2015, just one year before the implementation of the China 5 emission standard. When the standard came into effect in 2016, the new car market immediately felt stricter, with restrictions on importing non-China 5 compliant vehicles. This directly impacted the used car market—my old China 4 car lost a third of its value when I resold it, and dealers all said buying a China 5 car locally was more cost-effective. In terms of driving experience, there wasn’t much difference with China 5 cars, but emission inspections became more frequent, occasionally requiring a trip to the DMV. Now that the China 6 standard is widespread, China 5 cars can still drive in the city without much impact, though enforcement is stricter in major cities.
