Summary/Reader Response Draft #4: Electric vehicles in Singapore (a)
The article "Electric vehicles will take over Singapore. But here's what must happen first" by Kuttan (2020) mentions Singapore’s ambitions for a greener country, issues that may be faced and possible solutions to these problems. He mentioned that Singapore has set a goal to retire internal combustion engine vehicles for 2040 and to make way for electric vehicles (EVs). Kuttan mentioned that rewards have been put out to attract more people to switch to electric vehicles. However, he pointed out that there are challenges like meeting the demand for EVs in Singapore. Besides this, he mentioned that ensuring sufficient charging points would also be an issue in the future. The article stated that persons of authorities have planned to work with private organisations to tackle this problem.
High numbers of vehicles in Singapore leave behind a large carbon footprint. Hence, Kuttan pointed out that this plan to electrify the public transport system is to reduce the carbon output. All in all, Singapore has set up multiple policies and incentives to achieve this goal of a greener country. The article stated that Singapore has also invested a large sum of money for this change and recognizes that it is needed for the fight against climate change.
In my opinion, usage of electric vehicles has advantages when compared to combustion engine vehicles such as lower carbon emissions, cheaper source of fuel and reduced initial cost of owning one even though they may have constraints like lack of charging points.
A benefit of electric cars is the contribution they can make to improve the quality of air in cities. According to the news release "Promoting The Adoption Of Cleaner Commercial Vehicles" (National Environmental Agency, 2020), electric vehicles run on electricity and they have no tailpipes. This means that they do not produce any carbon dioxide during usage. The only time EVs indirectly contribute to the emission of carbon dioxide is when local power is generated through burning of coals or natural gas in order to produce the electricity to charge these vehicles. However, this amount of greenhouse gas produced is insignificant when compared to a car, which runs on petrol. This is due to the fact that the number of petrol-based cars is around 570,000 whereas the number of electric vehicles is around 1100 in Singapore. Therefore, using EVs greatly reduces air pollution.
Another advantage of using an EV is that it uses a cheaper alternative to fuel itself, which is electricity. According to the Winters (2021), electricity is inexpensive compared petrol. Currently, petrol-based car can go up to 480 kilometers on a full tank while an electric vehicle goes only up to 350 kilometers on full charge. With technological advancements in EV batteries, the mileage of EVs could be on par with the mileage of combustion engine vehicles in the future. This means that there will be less charging required for the same amount of distance travelled in an EV. This will help to further cut down the cost of recharging an EV. Winters also mentioned that a consumer report done in 2020 suggests that owners of EVs typically spend 60% lesser on fuel than owners of combustion engine vehicles.
One more advantage of owning an EV in Singapore is the initial cost of buying one. EVs in the past have been more expensive than combustion engine vehicles due to various reasons like the material they are being made of and the cost of producing batteries. According to a webpage by Land Transport Authority (2021) called "Factsheet: Encouraging the Adoption of Electric Cars for a More Sustainable Land Transport Sector", grants of up to $45000 have been introduced under multiple schemes to allow more people to opt for electric vehicles instead of the combustion engine vehicles. The introduction of different schemes help to bring down the initial cost of owning EVs in the local scene for the consumers.
However, one of the drawbacks of owning an EV in Singapore is the inconvenience caused due to the lack of charging points. According to the article "Buying An Electric Car In Singapore: A Complete Guide"(Chan, 2021), there are around 3730 electric vehicles in Singapore as of now but only 1600 charging points available. These charging points can only cater to one vehicle at a time. This is a great inconvenience for EV owners. Authorities are aiming to tackle this problem by planning to deploy 60000 charging points by 2030 in order to encourage more EV adoption in Singapore.
In conclusion, adoption of EVs is the ideal way to move forward as a society as it has great amount of positive impacts on the environment. Even though there may be certain drawbacks in owning an EV now, I believe that with the current research going on in the electric vehicle industry, these drawbacks would be rectified and many would opt for EVs in the future for the betterment of our planet.
References:
Kuttan, S.C.(2020, February 23). Commentary: Electric vehicles will take over Singapore. but here's what must happen first. Channel News Asia.
National Environment Agency (2020, 04 March). Promoting the adoption of cleaner commercial vehicles.
Winters, M. (2021, December 29). Here’s whether it’s actually cheaper to switch to an electric vehicle or not—and how the costs break down. Consumer News and Business Channel.
Lta.gov.sg. (2021, March 4). Factsheet: Encouraging the Adoption of Electric Cars for a More Sustainable Land Transport Sector. Land Transport Authority.
Chan, A. (2021, November 26). Buying An Electric Car In Singapore: A Complete Guide. SingSaver Blog - We Compare, You Save. Singsaver.
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