Last week, as part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, the government already said it would “make it easier to buy and own” electric vehicles (EV) in the country. It highlighted plans to expand the EV charging infrastructure to 60,000 by the end of 2030, double the original target of 28,000.
During his budget speech on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced that SGD 30 million (USD 22.6 million) will be set aside over the next five years for EV-related initiatives.
Since the 2020 budget, measures have been laid out to promote the use of EV. An early adoption incentive scheme was rolled out for buyers from 2021 to 2023, offering a 45% rebate on the vehicle registration fee, capped at SGD 20,000 (USD 15,050). On Tuesday, Heng announced that the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) floor will be lowered to zero between January 2022 to December 2023.
Petrol duty will be raised with immediate effect, said Heng. For premium petrol, it will be raised by 15 cents per liter and for the intermediate grade, the duty will increase by 10 cents.