Singapore's Electric Vehicle Plans

The numbers already signal the start of this seismic shift. The electric vehicle (EV) population has surged over 50% in less than a year, from 26,200 to nearly 40,000, with EVs now accounting for a staggering 41% of all new car registrations. While the government focuses on infrastructure targets like deploying 60,000 charging points by 2030, the real story for individuals is the rapid depreciation of their existing assets and the emergence of a new, complex financial landscape where the old certainties of car ownership no longer apply.

This isn't a distant problem. Consider a family buying a new petrol car today. Its 10-year Certificate of Entitlement (COE) will expire in the mid-2030s, a point where the transition will be in full swing. The decision to renew that COE will become a high-stakes financial gamble. They will be pouring tens of thousands of dollars into a technology that the entire country is actively phasing out. This will likely lead to a collapse in the residual "paper value" of older ICE cars, leaving many owners with a rapidly depreciating asset that becomes increasingly costly to maintain and insure relative to its worth.

The fate of Singapore’s over 180 petrol stations underscores this financial reality. Experts predict that up to a quarter of these prime real estate sites may become unprofitable by 2035. As they begin to close, the convenience of refuelling—a key advantage of ICE vehicles—will diminish, further eroding their appeal and resale value. For the average owner, this means the vehicle sitting in their car park is no longer just losing value due to age and mileage, but is now subject to a politically enforced depreciation schedule that is outside of their control.

This creates a critical personal finance crisis for mechanics, whose human capital—their skills and experience—is at risk of becoming obsolete. While the government encourages upskilling through programmes like the National EV Specialist Safety (NESS) certification, the transition is not straightforward. The skillset required for EV repair is fundamentally different, leaning more towards electrical engineering, software diagnostics, and high-voltage battery management—disciplines requiring a grasp of mathematics and physics that may not align with the aptitudes of the existing workforce.

Furthermore, the EV repair market is consolidating around official brand distributors. Each EV model requires proprietary diagnostic software and specialised training, effectively locking independent workshops out of the most complex and lucrative repair jobs. This forces a grim choice upon workshop owners: invest heavily to become a certified partner for a specific EV brand, pivot to the shrinking pool of non-powertrain repairs like suspension and brakes, or face closure. For a generation of skilled technicians, their primary source of income is tied to a technology with a government-mandated expiration date.

This creates a new form of economic division. Overnight charging at a home or HDB car park using a slow AC charger is the most cost-effective method, but reliance on public DC fast chargers—the closest equivalent to a five-minute petrol stop—is significantly more expensive and puts greater strain on the vehicle's battery over time. Transport economists warn that the "fast-charging petrol station model" is unlikely to be economically sustainable for most users, meaning those who need quick top-ups during the day, such as private-hire drivers, will bear the highest costs.

Moreover, the initial purchase price of an EV remains a significant barrier, often costing thousands more than a comparable ICE model despite government rebates. While maintenance costs are lower due to fewer mechanical parts, the risk of a battery replacement looms large. An out-of-warranty battery replacement can cost upwards of SGD 20,000, a potential financial shock that does not exist with traditional cars. Calculating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is no longer a simple matter of purchase price plus petrol; it now involves a complex matrix of electricity tariffs, charger access, battery longevity, and evolving government policies.

For current ICE car owners, this means mapping out a clear timeline. Holding onto an older petrol car deep into the 2030s is a high-risk strategy. The financially prudent move is to plan for a switch to an EV or hybrid well before the market for used ICE vehicles becomes illiquid. For those considering buying a car now, the long-term TCO of an EV, including charger accessibility and potential battery degradation, must be weighed against the steepening depreciation curve of a brand-new ICE vehicle.

​For mechanics and workshop owners, survival depends on specialization and partnership. Instead of being a generalist, the future lies in becoming the go-to expert for EV-agnostic repairs—suspensions, brakes, tyres, and air-conditioning—or investing to become a certified repair centre for a high-volume EV brand. Waiting for the industry to change is not an option; the change has already been legislated. In this new landscape, your vehicle is more than just transport—it is a dynamic financial asset whose value is now directly tied to national policy, and navigating its future requires a complete change in mindset.