ICE Vehicles will not be sold in Singapore by 2040. This week, the Prime Minister of Singapore announced a progressive plan for their transportation system.
The Government will offer incentives to encourage the adoption of cleaner, electric and hybrids vehicles.
Singapore suffers from pretty severe pollution and already has policies like electric road pricing (a form of congestion tax), to encourage the use of public transport. There are also a series of low emission zones, which of course EVs and Hybrids would be eligible for.
Known as the EV Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI), the Singaporean Government will offer up to S$20,000, (around $21,493.79 Australian dollars) for those that buy EVs. This is in stark contrast to the Australian Government that still apply a Luxury Car Tax to EVs, which acts as a disincentive to EV adoption here locally.
The program will run over the next three years, which will see the Government invest more than $70 million into the scheme.
We are placing a significant bet on EVs, and leaning policy in that direction because it is the most promising technology.
For both public health and climate change reasons, we should progressively phase out the use of ICE vehicles towards cleaner alternatives, such as hybrids and EVs (electric vehicles)
Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat
Singapore’s 2040 ban on fossil-fuel powered cars, follows the UK who recently announced a 2035 ban.
Another key aspect of accelerating the transition to EVs, is the infrastructure. The Singapore Government are also investing in private-sector charging networks, an initiative that aims to grow the current 1,600 chargers to more than 28,000. These will be located in convenient public locations and will include the 250w high-speed DC chargers.
If you’re wondering what forward-leaning EV policy looks like, Singapore now has it. While they have been slow to adopt EVs, they’re now getting serious and are setting a clear direction for the future of their transportation industry.
While Australia doesn’t have the same physical reminder as thick smog in our cities, we are still emitting (and exporting that then gets emitted by others) loads of CO2.
We should be setting similar policies to Singapore, the UK and other countries around the globe and our politicians have avoided the issue for too long. I hope announcements like this, change the conversation about if, to when, Australia will transition to electric vehicles.
