Bloomberg
Two years after Tesla’s reprimand, Singapore gets hot on electric cars
(Bloomberg) – After years of not much effort to promote the introduction of electric cars, Singapore has begun to embrace it. Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung told parliament last week that there was a net carbon-positive impact on gas switching. hostages to electric vehicles, “even if the electricity is generated by fossil fuels.” And last month, Singapore pledged $ 30 million ($ 22 million) over five years for EV-related initiatives. “With our urban environment, Singapore is quite ideal as a test bed for the rapid adoption of EVs,” Ong said. about the face of a few years ago when Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc., reprimanded the city-state several times over Twitter. In early 2019, he described the island as ‘unwelcome’. According to the government, the government is not supportive of electric vehicles, says Zafar Momin, deputy professor at Nanyang University of Technology, Nanyang Business School, when the first Tesla was introduced in 2016. rate it. After some debate, the owner was charged S $ 15,000 for the carbon emissions generated while charging the battery. “Punishing an EV, instead of inciting like the rest of the world, was contrary to Singapore’s quest to be a smart and green nation,” Zafar said. “This incident may have led Musk to form the view that he tweeted.” Although the amount Singapore spends on EVs pales in comparison to the billions of dollars China pays out, it is a much smaller market and the size of the country also means public transport This is an effective way to get around. Indeed, Singapore aims to run all buses on electricity by 2040 as part of its goal of achieving net emissions as soon as they become viable in the second half of the century. It plans to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2040 and will not allow diesel cars or taxis to be registered from 2025. As part of the pressure, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said in the 2021 budget that 60,000 charging points will be installed on public parks and private premises by 2030, an increase from a previous target of 28,000. motor vehicles for mass market, has been reduced by as much as 40%, making it comparable to cars with internal combustion engines and the Government will remove the minimum additional registration fee of $ 5,000 for motor vehicles from January 2022, which will help buyers to get early adoption rebates maximize, with a maximum of $ 20,000 per vehicle. Undertaken by the car app Motorists have expressed interest in adopting electric cars. According to BloombergNEF, by 2023 it could increase to about 4% of total passenger car sales in Singapore, or about 3,300 units. By comparison, the registrations of electric vehicles, which include passenger vehicles, buses and taxis, in the city-state last year were 1,396, up from 1,334 in 2019, according to data from the Land Transport Authority. “The government’s efforts to ensure the availability of chargers to the public Allen Tom Abraham, analyst at BNEF, said that parking lots and parking lots for consumers would help improve consumer acceptance,” said BNEF analyst Allen Tom Abraham. ” A shortage of public EV chargers can be a major obstacle to rapid acceptance, ” he added, noting that this is especially the case in Singapore, where the majority of the population lives in dense, high-rise apartments. which has no dedicated parking spaces, let alone individual car charging stations, Mesk recently did not deal with Singapore on Twitter, but Tesla launched a dedicated sales portal launched in February. website used to order a Model 3, Tesla’s most popular and affordable sedan, starting at around S $ 113,000, and expecting mid – 2021 delivery. lettuce’s factory in Shanghai is manufactured and shipped. Representatives of Tesla in China did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the news was excited on social media, with the loud noises mainly around costs. Singapore is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy a car with excise duties, and registration tax is sometimes more than double the value of the vehicle’s market value. People also have to own a limited number of permits for cars that are auctioned off by the government and that allow drivers to own a car for a maximum of ten years. Once the so-called certificate of rights expires, owners must either issue a new ten-year permit, export the car or scrap it. The price of S $ 113 000 for Model 3 does not exclude the certificate, which can cost another S $ 47 000 depending on the engine capacity. ‘Cars in Singapore have never been, and I doubt it will ever be cheap compared to similar makes and models everywhere. in the world, ”said Tesla owner Adrian Peh, who imported his EV from Hong Kong in 2016.“ I understand that building a sustainable future is not cheap, but if everyone shrugs off, for what kind future do we leave behind our children and grandchildren? “Tesla’s official entry into Singapore was also welcomed by the local fan club, the Tesla Owners Singapore group, which has more than 65 members.” It is encouraging to see that the government has placed much more emphasis on sustainability-related policies, specifically EV incentives and infrastructure commitments, “said the group’s representative, Chia Yan.” We believe that the government can provide even more support in the next few years. ” In addition to government support, prospective EV owners are also being offered financial assistance, with the country’s largest bank, DBS Group Holdings Ltd., introducing Singapore’s first green car loan on March 1, at a rate of 1.68% per annum for anyone who buys a new or used electric or hybrid vehicle, which compares to a rate of about 3.88% for ordinary personal loans.DBS is also Tesla’s preferred financing partner.And soon, the purchase of a made-in-Singapore EV is possible, and Hyundai Motor Group plans to complete an innovation center that will include EV production by the end of 2022. ‘As the road to EV adoption seems more dedicated and clear, more manufacturers like Tesla want to invest resources to future EV customers in Singapore, “said Zafar, Nanyang Business School. 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