Driving Sustainability

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 On the topic of Budget 2022 and the increase in car prices, it appears that more Singaporeans are opting for Electronic Vehicles (EV). Finance minister Lawrence Wong announced in his Budget speech that around 4% of new car registrations last year were EVs, which is a small albeit significant increase (Chew, 2022).  Singapore's Ministry of Transport also plans for all vehicles to be low emission vehicles by 2040 by implementing incentives for the purchase of EVs such as the electric vehicle Early Adoption Incentive (Teo, 2020). Just four days ago, in an effort to work towards net zero-emission, the government set a target of reducing land transport emissions by 80% from Singapore's 7.7 million tonnes in 2016 (Mohan and Lim, 2022). Some proposed efforts in place to achieve this include making equipping HDB car parks with EV charging ports and electrifying the public buses. These measures, along with the increasing taxes and fuel costs, is said to drive up demand for EVs in the future. Perhaps the most well-known EVs in Singapore are BlueSG electric cars (as pictured below), which are available for rent around several locations. Check out this interactive map of the available cars around the island! 

Key features of a BlueSg car. 
Source: BlueSG

This is great news as EVs are a much more sustainable alternative to petrol cars, benefitting the environment. According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), since an EV emits half the amount of CO2 compared to a petrol or diesel-fueled vehicle, carbon emissions can be reduced by about 1.5 million tonnes if all of the land transport vehicles in Singapore are EVs. LTA has also committed to only purchasing electric buses in the future, where 60 buses purchased in 2020 have been estimated to reduce the carbon emissions from buses by around 7,000 tonnes per year (LTA, n.d.). All this definitely appears promising in terms of helping Singapore's transport sector to reach its 2030 Green Plan goals, and also in allowing Singaporeans to choose greener options for driving around. 

References: 

BlueSg. (n.d.). BlueSG | 24/7 carsharing solution in Singapore. https://www.bluesg.com.sg/

Chew, H. M. (2022, February 26). IN FOCUS: What is the road ahead for Singapore’s relationship with cars? CNA. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/electric-cars-ev-luxury-cars-tax-arf-omv-budget-2022-2519051

Land Transport Authority. (n.d.). LTA | Electric Vehicles. LTA. https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltagov/en/industry_innovations/technologies/electric_vehicles.html#:%7E:text=In%20Singapore%2C%20where%20most%20of,similar%20vehicle%20powered%20by%20ICE.

Mohan, M., & Lim, V. (2022, March 8). Singapore Green Plan: EV-ready towns by 2025 and more support for businesses to improve energy efficiency. CNA. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sustainability/singapore-green-plan-electric-vehicle-ev-ready-2547936

Teo, G. (2020, December 12). MOT may review 2040 target for all vehicles in Singapore to be low emission: Ong Ye Kung. CNA. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-2040-target-internal-combustion-engine-474171

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