Earlier today a report claimed that Xiaomi may offer 2,000-3,000 free Beijing license plates as a promotional effort.

(Image credit: Xiaomi EV)

A report today claiming that customers who buy the Xiaomi EV could get a free Beijing license plate has sparked widespread discussion on social media. Now Xiaomi (HKG: 1810) is denying it.

"(The report) is completely untrue, and the pricing, delivery and sales policy of the Xiaomi EV will be subject to the official release," a Xiaomi Weibo account wrote.

For customers who don't have a Beijing license plate, they can consider buying one of the first Xiaomi EV vehicles and may get a free license plate, NetEase said in a report earlier today, citing an early employee close to Xiaomi founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun, who goes by the pseudonym Feng Gang.

"There are said to be about 2,000-3,000 Beijing license plates available, which customers can get when they buy a car, as a promotional effort," Feng said.

The report quickly sparked widespread discussion on Chinese social media, as Beijing is one of the Chinese cities with the strictest restrictions on car purchases.

Several Chinese cities have imposed restrictions on car purchases in hopes of easing traffic congestion, but the majority exempt purchases of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from those rules.

In Beijing, only qualified people can apply for local license plates, including those with a local residency (hukou) and those without a local hukou but have paid social security and personal taxes in the city for five consecutive years.

Only after qualifying for an application can a resident join a lottery system and wait for a quota to be allocated. Given that there are only 100,000 available quotas per year, 70,000 of which are for BEV license plates, residents usually have to wait many years before getting one.

Shanghai also has restrictions on car purchases, but gives away free license plates for BEVs. To register a car with an internal combustion engine in Shanghai, a fuel license plate needs to be obtained in advance through an auction, which currently costs around RMB 92,000 yuan ($12,780).

Xiaomi EV had its first model, the SU7, unveiled on December 28, with core specs other than price being announced at the time. The model's official launch date is undetermined.

The Xiaomi SU7 would officially enter the SOP (Start of Production) stage in mid-to-late February, launching mass production, local media outlet 36kr said on January 31, citing several industry sources.

Xiaomi EV plans to see production reach around 2,000 units in March and complete its capacity climb by mid-2024, with production reaching over 10,000 units in July, according to the report.

($1 = RMB 7.1979)

Xiaomi SU7's top-trim will be priced at around $50,350, report says