S'pore will have largest share of passenger EVs in S-E Asia by 2040: Report

Factors such as COE system, green policies make EV adoption more extensive: Expert

- Vanessa Paige Chelvan

Singapore is forecast to have the largest share of passenger electric vehicles (EVS) in South-east Asia by 2040, according to a report from Bloomberg's energy research service BloombergNEF.

A total of 80 per cent of all passenger vehicles here are expected to be electric by that year, compared with a regional average of 24 per cent, the report said.

Thailand, in second place, is forecast to have a 41 per cent share, followed by Vietnam (31 per cent), Indonesia (25 per cent), Malaysia (15 per cent) and the Philippines (10 per cent).

Singapore had the highest EV adoption rate among the six Southeast Asian countries in 2023, according to BloombergNEF, with EVs accounting for about 19 per cent of all vehicles sold here.

In the first seven months of 2024 alone, EVs formed 32.1 per cent of new car registrations, based on data from the Land Transport Authority.

According to the BloombergNEF report released on Aug 26, the Republic also had the highest density of public EV charging stations in South-east Asia in 2023, with one charging station for every three EVs. In Thailand, there was one public charger for every 16 EVs.

Malaysia had one for every 38 EVs, and Indonesia had one for every 42.

In its 2024 report on the outlook for EVs in the region, BloombergNEF said falling battery prices are "key to EV adoption".

The cost of manufacturing batteries can fluctuate depending on the availability and cost of raw materials and other components, as well as supply-and-demand factors.

This is because batteries are the most expensive component of EVs, said Ms Komal Kareer, the report's author.