BEIJING - Beijing has recorded the highest ever number of requests for electric vehicle (EV) registration in a third round of applications that ended on June 8.

A total of 17,600 individual and company applicants submitted applications for EVs, about 5,000 more than the previous round, according to bjhjyd.gov.cn, which announces Beijing's car quota allocation every two months.

Beijing plans to allow 60,000 new energy vehicles on the road this year, with 25,424 already assigned in the first two rounds. This year's quota will probably be used up in the next round which ends in August, according to the Beijing Times. Unless the quota is increased, new applicants will have to wait until next year.

In Beijing, a license plate lottery system is turning many drivers to electric cars, which receive government subsidies and face no odd-even car ban.

About 90,000 new-energy vehicles were sold in China in the first four months this year, up 131 percent year on year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.