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Tesla's sluggish China sales may get boost as Beijing expected to bend lottery rules for car maker's plates amid electric vehicle push

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A Tesla Model S car on display at a showroom in Shanghai. Serial entrepreneur Elon Musk has launched spacecraft into orbit, but popularising his Tesla electric cars in China is proving to be tougher than rocket science. Photo: AFP
He Huifengin Guangdong

Beijing is about to make it easier for buyers of a Tesla Model S to get a license plate in the increasingly congested capital, according to sources close to the municipal transport authorities, Chinese news site stcn.com reported on Tuesday.

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The city, which has over 5 million cars on the road, has been dishing out plates via a lottery system since 2011. But the odds of motorists there getting one for a petrol - or diesel - powered car are less than 1 per cent, compared to 38 per cent for a new energy vehicle. 

Previously, foreign auto makers were all bundled into the same lottery system, regardless of what kind of fuel they depended on. 

But Beijing is expected to announce a policy change this month during which it will make an exception for the California-headquartered company founded by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk 12 years ago.

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Sources told Chinese media that Tesla cars will be put on a special list of new energy cars for the first time among foreign auto makers. 

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