Since Beijing recorded the longest traffic jam in history in September 2010, Chinese cities have introduced a variety of measures to reduce the number of the cars on the road and encourage the use of clean energy vehicles.

In July this year, Guangzhou introduced a system to limit the number of car registrations through lottery and auction systems, according to Car News China.

After that, the city government introduced a policy saying 10 percent of the yearly quota of 120,000 license plates should go to owners of alternative energy vehicles.

Now it seems they’re getting desperate as, according to People’s Daily online, the government is handing out 10,000 yuan to those who purchase the vehicles.

And guess what? Enthusiasm is still tepid. One person gave his reasons for passing up the opportunity:

Mr. He, resident of Guangzhou, said, “New energy cars are pretty expensive, and refilling petrol and recharging electricity are big problems now. And also the repair is more costly compared to normal cars.”

Shenzhen is currently leading Guangzhou in hybrid vehicle sales, but only by being even more generous. Buyers in Shenzhen get an 80,000 yuan subsidy, according to CCTV.