Electric Vehicles for General Public

Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) when will electric vehicles (EVs) be made available to the public under the Electric Vehicle Phase 2 car-sharing programme; (b) what is the rationale for Phase 2 to have a much longer duration of up to 10 years compared to Phase 1; (c) whether ownership of EVs, other than the car-sharing programme, will be encouraged under Phase 2; and (d) if so, whether the Ministry will work with the Ministry of Transport to look at varying the vehicle's Additional Registration Fee (ARF) and giving COE rebates to make the cost of EVs comparable to that of non-electric vehicles.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Teo Ser Luck) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry): Mdm Speaker, LTA and EDB had issued a Request for Information (RFI) in December 2014 to invite proposals for the trial of an Electric Vehicle (EV) car-sharing programme in Singapore under Phase 2 of the EV test bed. The submission period has ended, and the proposals are currently being evaluated by LTA and EDB. The results of the RFI will be announced by the end of 2015.

EV Phase 2 will explore fleet-based, shared car operations with the potential to reap economies of scale through higher daily mileage and potentially lower running costs. Operators under Phase 2 will have to incur significant upfront cost of investments in EVs and a network of charging infrastructure. The 10-year period will allow adequate time for the companies to recover their investment.

Our broader transport goal is to encourage the use of public transport and reduce reliance on private vehicle ownership, whether they are EVs or not. Those who wish to purchase EVs can benefit from the recently enhanced Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS), under which low carbon emission vehicles stand to enjoy significant rebates of up to $30,000 off the Additional Registration Fee (ARF).

Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister of State for the answers. I have three supplementary questions. The first is on the duration of 10 years for Phase 2. Ten years seem to be quite a long time. I understand that yes, there is a need for the investment to be recuperated. But given that many cities have already moved on to large scale commercial implementation, it means that these countries will gain the advantage of wide-scale EV implementations over us. Will we lose out in terms of building capabilities among our companies and also in our country's leadership in sustainable and liveable cities, if we wait 10 years before even implementing this on a larger commercial scale basis? And is EV something that is important for us to invest in our economic development?

The second question is on EV ownership. I would like to ask whether EV ownership can be factored into this Phase 2's 10-year period when there has been sufficient infrastructure that has been built. Given the high cost of adoption, will there be incentives such as COE and tax rebates to encourage adoption so that we can have even larger scale of implementation?

Lastly, I would like to ask regarding other types of electric vehicles. Will buses and taxis also be factored in Phase 2, since they are also heavily used and have a shared fleet that can be maintained by operator with rapid charging facilities? So, this will also give us the larger scale implementation that we need.

Mr Teo Ser Luck: I thank Member for the questions. As an overall basis, it is still under the study phase. We have just completed the Phase 1, going to Phase 2. From Phase 1, testing the vehicle out on the roads and then to Phase 2 of rolling out fleet base, we are still undergoing the research and the study. Technology changes all the time. So, the duration of the 10 years is a safer duration for operators when they make for investment. Also, over the 10 years, technological advancements will change. You can see that there are many different types of technology that is advanced – today with batteries that are rechargeable and actually last longer and takes a shorter time to charge.

EV ownership right now is still in the study phase but the policy intent has always been not to have individual car ownership and as best possible to use public transport. Nevertheless, we want to give more options to consumers. We have to wait till the Phase 2 study is over because individual ownership is beyond the Phase 2 study right now. So, let us let this Phase 2 to progress and let the operator make the necessary infrastructure investments with the fleet base operation, and see what is the result of that.

As far as rebates is concerned, I will refer that to the Ministry of Transport to study what is available and whether it is necessary to come out with the other types of rebates and COE rebates. Currently, they have a review, but I am not too sure if the outcome is in the near term or not. So, we will let Phase 2 be implemented, before considering any other measures.