The Progress of EV Car Policies in Singapore and How it affects Car Owners 

Policies over the years

The progress of EV car policies in Singapore over the past decade has been marked by several key milestones.¹

• As early as 1994 the parliament in Singapore explored this question which showcased that Singapore was open to the idea and its potential benefits.
• In 2009, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) set up a task force to assess the feasibility of EV adoption in Singapore. 
• By 2011, Singapore was among the first cities in the world to test EVs at a systems level. Singapore began test-bedding with three outdoor and two indoor charging stations and nine EVs. 
• In 2012, Singapore Power (SP) launched its EV technology development initiative to further understand the impact of EV charging on the electrical grid. There was also an increase in the EV test-bed, involving 25 EVS and 20 charging stations. 
• In 2014, an EV car-sharing programme was announced which involved up to 1000 EVs with enough infrastructure to support them. Companies interested were to submit their proposals for the trial. This was to study the potential of a one-way car-sharing model and its viability in Singapore. 
• In 2016, there was a controversial case where a used Tesla Model S was imported from Hong Kong that had SGD$15,000 surcharge which considered its CO2 emissions produced during electricity production. It was later announced that LTA would re-examine the case with TESLA engineers as the Model S qualifies for tax breaks in most countries. 
• In 2017, Singapore’s first fleet of electrical taxis from HDT Singapore Taxi hit the roads as part of a nationwide car-sharing programme began. This was the result from the 2014 testing where BlueSG was chosen. 2,000 charging points nationwide were planned to be implemented as part of the nation EV charging network. 
• In 2020, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced that Singapore is moving towards EVs and policies for them and that the country aims to build 28,000 charging points by 2030 ad phase out all ICE vehicles by 2040. 
• In 2021, the Singapore government launched the inter-ministerial Singapore Green Plan 2030 which mentioned that it aimed to build 60,000 EV charging points instead of the 28,000 as previously announced the previous year. It also stated that it aimed to set a requirement for all newly registered cars to be of cleaner energy models by 2030. It also presented a comprehensive EV Roadmap to drive EV adoption and aims to reduce land transport emissions and achieve a net-zero goal. It also announced in the Budget speech that Singapore will dedicate SGD$30 million over the next 5 years for EV-related initiatives such as improve charging provision at private premises.²

Incentives in place 

Despite initial skepticism, advancements in battery and charging technologies have led to a policy shift in 2020, with the government placing a significant bet on EVs as the most promising cleaner vehicle technology. 

Challenges in long-term implementation of EV policies are noted, with current subsidies like the Early Electric Vehicle Adoption Incentive (EEAI) which provided a 45% Additional Registration Fee (ARF) rebate of up to SGD$20,000 thus reducing the upfront investment that lasted till December 2023, Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) which increased rebates of SGD$5,000 for cars and SGD$7,500 for taxis available only until December 2025 and Road tax reduction from January 2022 which allowed up to 34% reduction for electric cars, aligning with internal combustion engine equivalents. However, there are no new policies proposed for further market growth after that point.³

Singapore’s roadmap to e-mobility aims to phase out all internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2040, with a comprehensive EV Roadmap drawn under the Singapore Green Plan 2030 to accelerate the adoption of EVs for both private and public sectors.⁴

What does this mean for car owners?

Singapore’s EV policies have evolved significantly over the past decade, with a clear trajectory towards a sustainable and greener transportation system. The government’s commitment to EV technology, infrastructure development, and financial incentives has laid a strong foundation for the future of EVs in Singapore. And this shows how serious and involved the government is on EV policies which could lead to better prospects for EV car owners.

With a significant amount set aside for future policies, this amount could either be used to create more supporting infrastructure to support EV cars which can potentially lead to a decrease in charging prices, or it could be used for other incentives such as reducing the initial cost for EV cars to encourage car owners to switch from ICE vehicles to EV. However for the targets set by the government to be achieved, this must mean that the supporting infrastructure must be sufficiently prepared in advance for the surge of EVs as currently there may be a handful of charging points at each carpark but that will not be enough to maintain the amount of EV cars set by the government. 

Contingencies and precautionary measures must be in place as well if EV charging points at public carparks or near residential places are malfunctioning which could impact the residents if large majority of them are using EV cars. The time required to charge an EV car as compared to filling up a vehicle with petrol is significantly longer as well which is a significant factor especially at large carparks with limited EV charging points.

In conclusion, it might be cheaper and easier to use EV cars now due to the lower number of EV cars on the road which leads to lesser competition for EV charging points. But once the number of EV cars start increasing and if the number of charging points installed cannot keep up, there might certain complications. Keep an eye out for more updates and information on new EV policies here. And new charging points being listed here.

1. https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/spores-electric-vehicle-journey-so-far  ↩︎
2. https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/cutting-landfill-waste-mandating-cleaner-vehicles-among-slew-goals-unveiled-singapore  ↩︎
3. https://bolt.earth/blog/ev-landscape-in-singapore  ↩︎
4. https://www.uobgroup.com/industry-insights/industrials/roadmap-to-emobility.page  ↩︎