By Evelyn Wang

As the world’s first city with an all-electric bus fleet, Shenzhen is contining its ‘Shenzhen Blue’ sustainable development plan to weed out diesel vehicles before 2019.

The city is leading the global trend and is going for a comprehensive overhaul that includes both public and commercial vehicles.

According to the schedule announced by the Human Settlements and Environment Commission of Shenzhen Municipality last month, all new commercial light-duty trucks must be electric starting May 1. The trucks will also be allowed on urban roads (except for Shennan Dadao) for the first time starting in July.

By the end of this year, the city’s transport commission plans to retire 20,000 commercial light trucks. Ten pilot ‘green logistics zones,’ within which diesel vehicles will be prohibited, will also be created in Futian, Luohu, Nanshan and additional districts.

Meanwhile, other vehicles also face an electric update. Before 2019, according to the government, diesel motorbikes in the express-delivery industry will be banned and the city’s remaining non-electric taxis will be replaced.

New policies announced last month are intended to promote adoption of electric vehicles, including free parking for two hours at charging stations, as well as subsidies to help operate the stations. To support all the upcoming changes, the government also aims to add 13,900 new charging spots (stand-alone or inside stations) across all of Shenzhen by year end.

If all goes as planned, Shenzhen is expected to set even more new records when it comes to electric vehicle adoption around the globe.

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