Car Workshops, Petrol Stations Run Out of Road as EVs Muscle In

Rising EV adoption will disrupt jobs and businesses and free up large swathes of real estate.

- Vikram Khanna

A friend of mine who owns a car servicing and repair company asked me in 2024 for advice on what new business he should switch to. When I said "Why do you ask, when you already have one?", he replied: "Because this is a sunset business."

He explained that with the rising popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) which need less servicing and repair, and the expansion of ride-sharing companies, which have their own car servicing arrangements, the demand for traditional car repair and maintenance, which his company offers, is going down. "We already feel it," he said.

He had a valid concern. Thanks to new automotive technologies, the car repair and service industry is yet another that is being upended. In fact, several studies indicate that the entire car-related ecosystem — down to not only independent repair workshops and parts suppliers but also petrol stations and all the real estate that they occupy — is facing disruption.

SOARING EV ADOPTION

The biggest cause is EV adoption which has been soaring in Singapore, of late. In 2024, the largest-selling car here was the China-made EV brand BYD, which overtook Toyota, Mercedes and BMW which have long dominated the car market.

According to evwire.com, which tracks the industry, 14,448 EVs were sold in Singapore in 2024, a 164.3 per cent increase over the previous year. EVs made up more than one-third of all new car registrations, compared with 18.1 per cent in 2023 and just 11.7 per cent in 2022. This has happened even though the building of a nationwide charging infrastructure is still a work in progress.