Not all businesses embracing electric vehicle adoption well

When it comes to driving Singapore's adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), many will cite the new jobs and business opportunities this will bring. But as CNA found out, some businesses are gearing up for the shift to EVs, while others say it is getting hard to cope. Marcus Tan with more.
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[@d.c.484]

For now best go with Hybrid cars for practical reasons. Wait for another 10 years before buying a full EV.

[@alvinmah6148]

Probably hydrogen cars will be more popular than EVs by then. Faster charging time, much better mileage & definitely more environmentally friendly than all EVs.

[@jackfieldsjack1061]

​@@alvinmah6148will take time... Charging stations are all over the place worldwide... More people are thinking toward Ev not hydrogen.

[@thebestbees]

Government’s “ go green “ initiative.. reduced VES rebate ( and this rebates are not discounts actually ) , expensive road tax compared to ICE .. and overall higher pricing compared to ICE

[@attitude111111111111]

Yeah, such irony 🙃

[@shanwen88]

As usual, forcing something for the sake of it without considering all other aspects. Forced digitalisation was a mess and now a lot of our elders are paying the price.

[@bobbyyap1585]

Remember LNG car? What happened? Now Evs. Think about it!

[@jeffreysim8828]

shell will also need to expand its toilet size...more waiting crowd + cafe + food,...a 5 mins affair at shell becomes >30mins

[@jet-xr2zj]

Half baked effort by the government to encourage EVs.

[@Marchkite]

Charging station at industrial area low voltage.. u know how need how long to charge up a commercial vehicle anot...? Sai..

[@theotheleo6830]

I recently watched a video about Japan's dilapidated and broken EV charging stations. Many charging station businesses went bankrupt due to low demand, and EV charging station maintenance companies followed suit. An EV owner stated that it is getting more difficult to find working stations, and for that reason, traveling in an EV is stressful.

[@pingumy]

Shell Recharge price are RIDICULOUS

[@chestercheng.realestate]

Mercedes-Benz EQB just got burned on 31 December at Johor, Malaysia

[@angxiang3186]

SG GOV is half F:- 1. Only installing A/C slow chargers in public usage ~ who can spend 6-8 hours whilst charging. Where r those DC fast chargers in mass installations, freely available in public access carparks??? 2. EV car maintenance-most workshops depends on Jiu Hu Kia , who r skilled on ICE. U C those industrial workshops has any HR department n want to human resource upgrading to EV technology~tomorrow no come;Hilang lah. 2. EVs r priced more expensive than ICE equivalents??? Why after those subsidies=this is a managed costings that SG GOV choose not to acknowledge n adopted a market pricing mentality.

[@zanzikar7]

This EV craze reminds me of the Tulpenmanie craze of the year 1634 in the Dutch region....🌷🌷🌷

[@mypetscatsandfishes4535]

Can it charge from 0% to 100% in 3 minutes like an ICE car? If can't, why should we change?

[@user-rt6ip4kb1i]

because Singapore does not produce any oil.

[@jemfalor]

based on last year news, 5min 200km

[@jamesl2590]

Yes and if you want to drive to Malaysia, how to find electric charging station?

[@jemfalor]

@@jamesl2590 sadly, that would be a challenge.

[@okw100]

@@jemfalorcan share the link?

[@khaosmue2114]

Prices are the baseline for everything. If you want people to adopt EV, then the overall cost of running an EV must be significantly lower than that of owning a petrol vehicle. At current, I am paying way more for EVs than i would be paying for a normal petrol vehicle.

[@liangng3045]

I worried that the coe only temporary when comes to EV in the future which not extending further from current 10 year period. ☹️

[@lanlantulan]

for sure. coe is cash cow.

[@sleepy_dobe]

It's ridiculous for anyone to charge their EVs at a converted petrol station and sit in a "cafe" to wait 15-30 mins while their EV is being charged. Unless it just so happens that you are thinking of taking a coffee break and you drive past the station. In this case, it's more like you're deciding to take a coffee break at the station's "cafe" and since you'll probably take 15mins to finish your coffee, might as well top-up their EV's charge while you're there. It's the total opposite of the current petrol stations' business concept where fuel top-up is the priority and enticing customers to shop in the mini-mart is a 2nd priority. Plus, most EVs can't fully charge their batteries in 15-30mins, and if you're always fast-charging your batteries, don't be shocked when your batteries don't last the full period of your 10-yr COE. Furthermore, common sense would dictate that most EV owners would charge their cars overnight at home and the lowest range of the current EVs sold in SG is probably over 200km. More likely closer to 300+km though. A "normal" driver wouldn't need a top-up charge mid-day if they had charged their cars overnight. Don't even need to charge every night. Only taxis, private hire vehicles(PHVs), delivery vehicles, buses, and commercial vehicles cover that kind of mileage per day, and the really high mileage ones don't have many EV solutions for them at the moment. Taxis and PHVs already currently use only the long-range EVs or hybrids. And hybrids still need the old-fashion petrol station. So, re-purposing petrol stations.......not the right time now. You need to serve the masses, and the masses currently still drive ICE vehicles. 2040 is still over 15 years away.

[@simroysten7963]

Obviously you have not heard of spontaneous combustion from the EVs in China.

[@hannesRSA]

Diesel and petrol are way more complex and demands a higher IQ and skill level. You could train almost anyone to be an EV tech in a year I'm sure.

[@poomee]

Does CNA only shows Singaporean news?

[@johntruth1004]

Here's why: 1. Poor resale value (like buying second hand phone with poor battery life) 2. Inadequate charging infrastructure. 3. Higher taxes and insurance 4. After warranty lock in. (3rd party cannot service EVs)

[@musicsensei1793]

Let’s revisit EV after all the hype and fad in 10 years from a Net effect to the environment when the batteries require replacements and the carcasses of EV cars.

[@HotimusPrime]

Too much fanfare for a plan there is bound to fail.

[@SivalinPuthery]

If you want to go green, then take public transport. Our country is so small, travel distances are laughable compared to other big countries

[@user-ue2jo1sn3g]

People forgot that all these EVs are made of materials that needed massive energy and mining. I'm happy to fill up my car with petrol, in and out of petrol stations in 6 minutes. You all can sleep at the cafe while charging.

[@NiTroSg]

EV are not doing well at 2nd hand market…

[@jemfalor]

the business model in Singapore impedes progress in many ways

[@jessicaregina1956]

Gearing up 😂 Other place already geared up plus tuned and nitrous, until now then gear up

[@ArabicReja973]

Batteries in these Chinese electric cars come from the Xinjiang region, where they are produced by: - coal-fired plants and - Uyghur forced labor in their production.

[@user-mt1cj8ip4c]

So stupid comment . Batteries produced by plants. Only electricity produced by plants. What a joke .

[@AhmetTekin101]

​@@user-mt1cj8ip4cBatteries not produced from a plant then where are they produced from? From mud?

[@davidhamtaro]

@@AhmetTekin101batteries produced from his mother’s womb.

[@wenwuipu5831]

Until graphene batteries come into the EV scene, not worth considering.. just not a fan of current lithium technologies personally..

[@emberson7850]

Its unbelieveable they didn't find a solution before. Lithium batteries have always been a problem, especially when they cause fires. I remember the reports many, many years ago back when phones didn't have a camera on them and heavy laptops.

[@liamporter1137]

EV is an ecosystem which includes self driving, smart city etc. Singapore is behind this trend.

[@devildevil2271]

Who will benefits from all this,???

[@tablespoon1277]

commercialized carbon

[@ngrobert5054]

Can hired Williams Loh Informatics Diploma

[@pehclark7256]

這次真的BBQ 樂

[@jessicaregina1956]

😂 pioneered high speed charger Right...... Really......

[@huangyongting160]

Petrol Station much a small place turn into cafe, soon all will close down😂

[@sleepy_dobe]

Electrifying our source of power instead of relying on fossil fuels is a low-hanging fruit. If humans are serious about combating climate change, we should be devoting more resources to research clean hydrogen energy. Right now, clean hydrogen energy is too expensive to be commercially viable. But clean hydrogen solves a lot of issues faced by EVs. For eg. refilling a full tank of hydrogen takes the same amount of time as refilling a full tank of petrol/diesel. A hydrogen-powered car don't need rechargeable batteries, hence cutting down on the use of rare earth materials (which by the way is found in significant quantities in only 3 countries in the world. Wanna risk being held to ransom anyone?) and the associated environmental cost of mining, manufacturing, and eventual disposal of rechargeable batteries. And since there is no need for batteries, long-haul vehicles like airplanes, container ships, trucks can all convert to hydrogen without the range limitations. Also, hydrogen-powered cars don't need new "engines". Current internal combustion engines can be modified to run on hydrogen. Clean hydrogen energy's only significant challenge is the cost of manufacturing clean hydrogen. And that's why it's not as heavily pushed as electric power. Because electricity is still cheap today. But we forget that this cheap electricity is also not totally clean. In fact, much of it still comes from burning fossil fuels.

[@theotheleo6830]

Producing hydrogen also uses electricity, which as you pointed out, much of it still comes from burning fossil fuels. But, since hydrogen produces less energy than the electricity that was used to manufacture it, it makes more sense to use that electricity to run the cars.

[@sleepy_dobe]

@@theotheleo6830 That's why I said clean hydrogen energy. In any case, the electricity is only one part of EVs issues. The other environmental issue EVs have is their batteries. Specifically, the production as well as the handling of waste batteries, ie. batteries that have reached the end of their life cycle. We all know the rare earth materials batteries use, the environmental impact of mining the materials needed, and how to dispose of them safely after they're really dead. Yes, there is current research into new, less "dirty" materials, but the battery is still a required component. Hydrogen-fueled engines don't need batteries. And batteries still need a longer time to charge compared to hydrogen re-fuelling. Not to mention, if a battery catches fire, it's extremely difficult to put out and likely to burn for days. EVs are very prominent now and being touted globally as a big solution to the climate crisis because it is a low-hanging fruit. The batteries are already available, the tech is already there, and costs have already come down so much that it is now readily achievable by the masses. So governments worldwide are quick to jump on the bandwagon. Given the push by so many populations worldwide, govts all over must show that they're doing something. Hence, EVs and trying to electrify everything else. It's the cheapest solution now. But at the rate that we're mining, we will run out of rare earth materials before we run out of oil and coal. Not that we should stick to oil and coal. Just saying that electrification isn't the best long-term solution for mankind and planet earth.

[@John-vm7fq]

Lol take govt initiative with a pinch of salt bah, see tengah's centralised cooling system lol

[@deschan2246]

Electric vehicles will fail !!!

[@94876883]

Yes why not have a shopping mall or massage parlour so that driver can also recharge. 😅 it’s totally unsustainable

[@jessyblue863]

Evs are for yesman.

[@louistan7560]

Why follow the herd? Electric cars is a fad. It will pass.

[@Callsign-Blade_RunnerSG]

Electric Vehicles are Good for Public Transportations but it’ll never be as ROBUST as HYBRID Vehicles which provides the Best of both worlds for private owner usage!

[@user-no6gy9sd3f]

The government should ban all non electrifying car on the road by 2025

[@jont2576]

If they scrap coe for evs.....i guarantee the entire country would adopt evs even if they dont know how to drive..... It is only a matter of conviction and political will...... Dont toss us some stupid carrot or minute discount and then complain and start pretending its the peoples fault when the government isnt even serious about its

[@patricksullivan3919]

Hate her accent. South Africa?