Summary Reader Responses Draft 2

The article “Electric vehicles will take over Singapore. But here’s what must happen first” (Kuttan, 2020) mentioned that Singapore has declared to retire internal combustion engines by 2040, paving the way for electric vehicles. Kuttan mentions that 28,000 charging points are to be installed in collaboration with major energy companies. However, experts have warned that a supply shock of electric vehicles may threaten the goal. Additionally, Singapore's goal may seem far-fetched in comparison to the current leading country in the adoption of electric vehicles - Norway. The article also mentions that Singapore aims to have roughly 10 times more charging point density and has not implemented incentives for drivers to buy electric vehicles, unlike Norway. The author claims that motivating public transport use would ensure lesser cars are driven on roads. The author further explains that converting commercial transport aggressively to EVs and cutting down on petrol vehicles, would reduce environmental issues. With these changes, Kuttan encourages the relevant parties to refine the competency of workers to safeguard the consistency of EVs for the future. Despite the EVs' limitations on increasing charging points outdoors, adopting EVs in Singapore can reduce the carbon output and benefit Singapore’s economy by increasing sales of EVs.

 

One way that EVs can help to reduce carbon output in Singapore is by converting combustion engine vehicles to EVs. All vehicles that are driven on roads today in Singapore contribute up to 6.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, in which only 0.5 percent of pollution is contributed by EVs (Ning, 2021). Ning reports that Singapore aims to reach zero petrol vehicles to be driven on roads by 2040. The pollution caused by combustion engines has already awakened countries to craft their own green solutions to reduce their respective carbon output. As of now, some countries have already begun to do their part in this global issue. According to Juul and Meibom (2011), the integration of electric power and transportation in Denmark was calculated and showed that 85% of transportation-related CO2 emissions could be potentially reduced. Although the data is an initial calculation, it can be a positive prediction that can potentially be followed up by other countries that are planning to adopt EVs. This means that countries that have already stepped up to make a difference are exemplary to other countries and have proven to convert combustion vehicles into EVs for a cleaner atmosphere. Therefore, replacing combustion engine vehicles with EVs can potentially reduce a high number of carbon emissions.

 

Another way that EVs can contribute to Singapore is by boosting the economy with sales of EVs. Nicholson mentions that hybrid vehicle sales have largely increased by 98.2 percent, but diesel and petrol vehicles dropped in sales by 25.2 percent in Australia. It has been shown in Australia that many consumers are leaning towards EVs as the transition of transportation takes place globally. Nicholson explains that EVs have brought in more benefits for Australia such as income tax by spending more on employment than supplying and selling fuel.  With economic benefits that are evident in other countries, this can influence the global economic market and create new financial targets for Singapore to achieve while adopting a global change in transportation. In my opinion, Singapore can identify Australia's economic progression as an example to look up to. This can open doors for Singapore into the EV market and reap its financial benefits while making full use of adopting EVs. In my opinion, the timeframe for a huge economic boost from EVs would still be early as Singapore is still lacking behind, but it would bear fruit when the demand for EVs reaches its peak in the future. Hence, when the demand for EVs increases in the future, Singapore can potentially gain a lot of profit from their sales of EVs within the country.

 

However, adopting EVs can also lead to difficulties faced when increasing charging points outdoors. According to Teo (2020), the commercial and network director Ms Jenny Lim argues that charging needs sufficient space not just for the lot but for equipment installation as well. Ms Lim stated that underground cables can potentially lead to delays or aborts constructions. The author warns that constructing outdoor charging points is a slow process to build and can be costly due to trenching regulations of concealing electric cables. Teo also mentions that it costs more to build and install when the charging point is distant from the power source. This means that increasing the amount of charging points could bring constraints for engineers in their planning and would be time consuming as well.  If safety regulations are not considered, charging points would put the safety of consumers at risk while charging. Therefore, increasing the amount of charging points can increase the efficiency of charging EVs outdoors, but it must be installed safely and adhere to safety regulations for consumers to charge their EVs safely.

 

Singapore's involvement in EVs might be at the tip of the iceberg as compared to other countries that have already contributed to this global transition.  With critical planning and proper management of adopting EVs, Singapore will be on par with other countries. Even with its limitations on charging points, accommodating the use of EVs properly can potentially help to reduce a high number of carbon dioxide emissions and improve the economy in Singapore.

References:

Nicholson, T. (2021). Why electric cars are good for the economy. RACV.

https://www.racv.com.au/royalauto/transport/electric-vehicles/economic-benefits-electric-cars.html

Ning S.T. (2021, August). Green vehicles add power to the fight against climate change. TheStraitsTimes.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/green-vehicles-add-power-to-the-fight-against-climate-change

Juul, N. & Meibom, P. (2011). Optimal configuration of an integrated power and transport system. 

Energy, 36(5), 3223–3350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.03.058 

Teo, G. (2020, March). 8,000 charging stations for electric cars is possible - but where? Industry players weigh in. TheStraitsTimes.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/electric-vehicles-budget-2020-charging-points-energy-770251