News analysis Why it's fewer carrots, more sticks to get car buyers to go green

EVs in S'pore will likely continue to have a pricing advantage even with cut in rebates

- Lee Nian Tjoe

When it comes to going green, electric vehicles (EVs) are Singapore's preferred choice. Come 2026, such cars will continue to receive rebates, while non-electric cars either get nothing or face higher surcharges.

This follows revisions to the EV Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI) and the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) that apply from Jan 1. They are basically a carrot-and-stick approach to get buyers to pick greener cars, penalising them for choosing less-green options.

Announced on Sept 8, the moves align with Singapore's broader objective of having "100 per cent cleaner energy vehicles by 2040".

Cleaner energy vehicles refer to electric cars and hybrids. To get to that goal, it will no longer be possible to register new cars that rely solely on engines in Singapore from 2030.

In the new year, the EEAI will be halved to $7,500 and the incentive will be removed by the end of 2026.

The new VES rebate cap for EVs will also be reduced from $25,000 now to $22,500 in 2026.

This continues the reduction of combined rebates for EVs from both schemes since 2021, and the $10,000 cut from 2026 will be the most significant yet.

The cuts do not mean that Singapore's commitment to electrification is wavering, but rather have more to do with the growing popularity of EVs.

The early adoption incentive is a temporary measure to defray the higher upfront cost of electric cars, bringing the selling price closer to that of conventional cars.

With the rebates, electric cars at the mass-market level can be priced significantly lower than comparable non-electric cars.

For example, the BYD Atto 2 - a compact electric sport utility vehicle - is priced more than $12,000 lower than the non-electric Honda HR-V.