Rebates for hybrid cars cut as Singapore extends EV incentives until December 2025
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SINGAPORE: In a move to further promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), Singapore will reduce rebates for hybrid vehicles, while extending existing incentives for all cleaner energy vehicles.
In a joint press release on Friday (Sep 20), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) announced that the Vehicular Emission Scheme (VES) Band A2 rebate will be lowered from S$5,000 (US$3,870) to S$2,500 in 2025.
The Band A2 rebate applies mainly to hybrid cars, which typically contain both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.
However, the current VES Band A1 rebate of S$25,000, which mainly applies to most electric cars, will be maintained.
Under the VES, purchasers of newly registered cars and taxis may receive a rebate on the Additional Registration Fee (ARF), subject to any applicable minimum ARF, or face a surcharge based on the vehicle's VES category.
The ARF is a tax paid when registering a vehicle and is calculated based on a percentage of a vehicle’s open market value – the cost of a vehicle imported into Singapore.
The VES, which is run by NEA, seeks to promote the use of cleaner vehicles that produce fewer emissions of carbon, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter.
At the same time, LTA will continue to extend the EV Early Adoption Initiative (EEAI) to December 2025, a move first announced in September 2023.
The EEAI, first launched in 2021, provides buyers of fully electric cars and taxis with a rebate of up to 45 per cent on the ARF.
Owners who register electric cars and taxis in 2025 will continue to receive a rebate of 45 per cent off the ARF, capped at S$15,000, LTA said in the joint press release.
The S$0 Additional Registration Fee (ARF) floor for electric cars and taxis will also be extended till Dec 31, 2025, the authorities added in the joint statement.
"Both the EEAI and the VES work in tandem to reduce the cost gap between cleaner energy cars (including electric and hybrid cars) and Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars, and have helped to boost adoption of cleaner energy cars," the statement said.
With the revised VES rebates in effect and the continuation of the EEAI, buyers of EVs can get up to a total of S$40,000 in rebates.
Registrations of cleaner energy cars reached approximately 80 per cent of all new car registrations between January 2024 and August 2024, with new electric car registrations in the same period making up roughly one-third of all new car registrations, said the two agencies.
Since 2021, about 20,000 electric cars and taxis have benefitted from the VES rebates and EEAI.
