Syed Imran Haider 
The government in Singapore is pushing for EV adoption via charging points and extended incentives. This has prompted an increasing number of Chinese electric vehicle brands to enter the market.
In the last couple of weeks alone, several Chinese EV makers have made their launches in Singapore to take advantage of the incentive.
The Launches
Last week, Zeekr made its debut in the city-state, which is a luxury EV brand of Geely. It launched a premium SUV, Zeekr X, which has a price tag of 199,999 Singaporean dollars.
A week before that, Xpeng Motors had also made its entry in the Singaporean market. They had launched a pop-up showroom that gave visitors the opportunity to take the Xpeng G6 electric SUV for a test drive.
The standard model is priced at SG$209,000, while the longer range version costs SG$224,999. Vice President of Zeekr, Mars Chen, talked about their brand’s launch in Singapore.
He said that Singapore is making great progress when it comes to transitioning to EV. He added that EVs could offer a premium driving experience and go beyond simple conveyance.
Mars Chen added that they could help elevate urban living. Chen said that the launch would help them in expanding across Southeast Asia and beyond.
Chinese EVs
BYD is another Chinese EVs’ manufacturer, which took over Tesla as the largest EV seller in the world. This also entered the Singaporean market in 2014.
It had launched its fleet of 30 electric taxis in December 2014. It subsequently introduced a range of EVs from buses and trucks to passenger vehicles, such as the Seal and e6.
More Chinese automakers have also launched EV models in Singapore, such as Chery and GAC Aion. Analysts said that these Chinese firms want to go global.
Therefore, they have decided to expand in Singapore, as the city-state is highly developed and its urban landscape makes it great for EVs.
In addition, the government is also pushing towards EVs and this makes it a good market to expand into, despite its small size.
The Government
The government of Singapore wants to have vehicles that run on cleaner energy and it wants to accomplish this goal by 2040.
It is looking to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles and diesel-powered taxis and cars by 2030 and 2025, respectively.
In the first half of 2024, one in three cars that were sold in Singapore was an electric vehicle. According to the Ministry of Transport, this is twice the figure of 18% that was recorded in 2023.
There has been a significant increase in EV adoption, as an emissions scheme and incentives have reduced the cost of owning an EV.
The upfront cost has gone down by SG$40,000. The real challenge has been the availability of charging stations, but they have been working on installing them for supporting a larger EV population.
They have a target of setting up 60,000 charging stations in the city-state by 2030. So far, they have already installed 7,100.
