Singaporean chip designer Eu Gene Goh is an electric car evangelist with two Teslas in his garage. But the car tech enthusiast isn’t ready to give up his S$1.6 million (US$1.21 million) McLaren 765LT, whose V8 can hit 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in three seconds. The city-state’s attempt to stop buying internal-combustion-engined cars from 2030 has clashed with buyers with a deep-seated love of supercars, ultra-luxury rides and enough income to keep them in one of the most expensive places in the world. car.
Singapore’s goal of phasing out sales of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030 puts it in a small group of countries with that near-term target, including Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands, but those markets are seeing faster growth in EV sales.
The Singapore government has been promoting electric vehicles (EVs) for two years, offering incentives of up to S$45,000 and expanding the charging network, but the pace of purchases by individual buyers needs to accelerate significantly to meet the target.
Electric vehicles accounted for nearly 12% of all car sales in Singapore last year, up from nearly 4% in 2021, according to the Land Transport Authority.
Still, a Reuters analysis of ownership data found that EVs account for just 1% of cars on the road. By comparison, in a city where the Formula 1 Grand Prix is one of the biggest events of the year, burning sports cars accounted for 1.65 percent of the nearly 653,000 registered vehicles.
In Singapore, a small island with an extensive public transport system, there are only about 12 cars for every 100 people.This compares with 9 per 100 people in Hong Kong and 82 in the US
One factor is price: 10-year rights to own a small car cost at least S$88,000, not including vehicle costs in Singapore, which drives luxury sales.
Over the past decade, the number of Ferraris in Singapore has grown by 67 percent and Lamborghinis by 38 percent. Since 2012, the number of McLaren teams has more than quintupled to 180, the figures show. There are almost five times as many Porsches on the road as Teslas.
“Basically, the whole market is shifting to the high end,” said Walter Theseira, a transport economist in Singapore.
He added that Singapore’s preference for luxury and high-performance cars is due to the increased wealth of one group of residents, while lower-income groups are unable to own cars.
HSBC estimates that 13 percent of Singaporeans could become millionaires by 2030, the highest proportion in the world.
The perfect display of EVS
A charity auction of 100 limited-edition “Made in Singapore” Hyundai Ioniq 5 earlier this year managed to sell half of the special-edition electric car emblazoned with the city’s Merlion mascot.
Hyundai said it was “delighted with the results” given the strangeness and novelty of electric cars, but declined to say how much the auction raised.
Markus Schuster, managing director of Audi Singapore, sees EVs accounting for the majority of new car sales as early as 2025 or 2026 as more premium models such as the Audi Q8 e-tron and Q4 e-tron hit the market.
“As a showcase for electric vehicles, the city is perfect,” he said.
Schuster added that Singaporean drivers only drive an average of 30 kilometers a day and don’t suffer from “range anxiety” like drivers in the US and Europe.
The government plans to build 60,000 charging points by 2030, up from 1,600 currently, which Schuster sees as a turning point in reaching the 2030 target.
McLaren owner Goh is already an EV convert. He likes that he doesn’t have to keep the engine running during school pickups, and that charging his Tesla Model 3 for 11,000km last year cost less than S$700.
“For someone who drives every day, I wouldn’t drive a regular gas car again,” he said.
But Goh is keeping his McLaren for now so he can enjoy the car’s performance at the Malaysian circuits he visits.
“I love technology and I find supercars, especially McLarens, it’s like combining technology and art,” he said.
First published date: March 24, 2023 at 08:40 AM CST
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