Cost Help guide to Buying An Electric Car In Singapore

February 2021 was the month where planet in Singapore was a viable choice for many Singaporeans looking to purchase a brand new car. This was when Tesla launched its sales portal to allow Singapore customers to order directly from them. After that, the Singapore government also announced that it promises to encourage Electric Vehicles' adoption by rolling the deployment of 60,000 charging points at public car parks and premises by 2030.

On the flip side, the government also announced an increase in petrol duty that will allow it to be more expensive to carry on driving cars running on gasoline (which will affect most cars in Singapore). Also, from 2025 onwards, new diesel cars and taxis will not be permitted to register in Singapore. All these are clear indications that cars of the future, in Singapore a minimum of, are likely to be run by electricity.

In this article, we'll give a breakdown of what you can expect to spend if you wish to buy and own an electric car in Singapore.

Types Of Electric Cars In Singapore

First, most importantly you will find three main types of planet that you could find in Singapore.

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs): These are cars which are fully run by electricity only. They do not have an internal combustion engine and use no fuel, there is no choice to run them via gasoline. Most of these cars will also be capable of both household power (DC) fast-charge and also the slower alternating current (AC) charge.

Examples of BEVs range from the Audi e-tron (about $333,000) and Tesla Model 3 (about $157,000). More affordable options include the MG ZS Electric (about $116,000) and the BYD e6 Electric ($103,000).

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs: These are cars that can operate on both electricity and petrol. PHEVs can operate on electricity for many distance being switching to gasoline once the battery power runs out. In certain sense, they provide the very best of all possible worlds. You can charge it at an EV charging point but, have the choice of utilizing gasoline as well to provide you with additional mileage without being concerned about needing to look for a charging point.

Examples of PHEVs in Singapore include the Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class Plug-in Hybrid (about $278,000), BMW X3 Plug-in Hybrid (about $267,000) and the Volvo S60 Plug-in Hybrid (about $270,000).

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs): While they have both an interior combustion engine as well as an electric motor, HEVs cannot be plug-in to charge the car. Rather, the battery is charged through regenerative braking. As a result it offers a superior better fuel efficiency. If you don't have regular use of a charging point, it might be easier to consider a HEV.

Many popular car models today are HEVs like the Kia Niro Hybrid (about $102,000), Honda Jazz Hybrid (about $99,000) and also the Toyota Prius + Hybrid (about $127,000).

Prices Of electrical Cars In Singapore

When you are looking at PHEVs and HEVs, there are lots of models available in Singapore. However, battery-only powered electric cars are much less frequent and there are only a handful of models available in Singapore today. Here are some fully-electric car models that you can buy in Singapore.

All prices and knowledge below are as found from SgCarMart or reported by the makers. COE prices as of the purpose of writing are $41,996 (Cat A) and $45,001 (Cat B).

What Rebates Do I Get Basically Buy A Fully Electric Car In Singapore Today?

To let the early adoption of fully-electric cars in Singapore, the federal government features the EV Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI).

From 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023, electric cars registered in Singapore will receive a rebate of 45% off their Additional Registration Fee (ARF). This really is limited to $20,000, as well as susceptible to the absolute minimum ARF payable of $5,000. This minimum ARF payable of $5,000 is going to be lowered to $0 for planet registered between January 2022 to December 2023.

For example, if you buy the Tesla Model 3 today, you'll receive the full EEVI of $20,000.

In addition, you also receive the Vehicle Emission Scheme (VES) rebate, which may be up to $25,000 if the car qualifies for the highest gang of A1.

In other words, the entire rebate for ARF is often as high as $45,000 for planet in Singapore. Do note, there's a minimum ARF payable of $5,000, which is lowered to $0 from January 2022 to December 2023.

Road Tax Cost For Electric Cars

If you're buying an electric car, the street tax schedule is different from regular cars. Here's what it is calculated.

There is also one more tax of $700/year for fully electric cars, since fully electric cars don't pay fuel excise duties. This is implemented over the next three years.

For example, an automobile such as the Hyundai Ioniq Electric having a power rating of 100 kW will incur 6-month road tax of $430 [$475 + $7.50 (100-90)] X 0.782], or $860 annually. After adding the additional road tax of $200 (from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021), the annual road tax for that car is $1,020. By 2023, this can increase to $1,520 when the full additional tax of $700/year is used to electric cars.

In contrast, the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid model comes with an annual road tax of $732.

For the Tesla Model 3 having a power rating of 239kW, road tax is $2,726 a year. By 2023, this can increase to $3,226.

Charging Points Access And Price

While the annual road tax that you pay is higher, additionally, you will save on fuel cost. But how much exactly can you expect to save?

To make a fair comparison, we chose to compare the Hyundai Kona Electric using the Hyundai Kona Hybrid. We assume a regular monthly usage of 1,000 km, which means you drive about 33 km on average every day.

From the table above, don't be surprised to save about $65.70 each month, assuming a mileage of just one,000 km. This translates to savings of approximately $788.40 each year.

Do observe that the figures above derive from the assumption you have use of your personal charging station both at home and in the office. If you plan to charge at an external EV charging point for example Shell Recharge, it is $0.55 per kWh. Blue SG charges $1 for that first three hours and $2 for subsequent hours, by having an average way to obtain 3.7 kW of electricity per hour. So how much you wind up saving is determined by 1) in which you charge and just how much you pay for electricity as well as 2) how often you drive.