Singapore announces stop sale date for diesel cars and taxis

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) is enforcing the rule that the Ministry of Transport (MoT) announced in 2021. Ceasing new diesel car and taxi registrations from 2025 is one of the many targets under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a long-term plan to make great strides towards sustainability and making the country more eco-friendly. LTA will exempt imported cars protected by the Classic Vehicle Scheme and Vintage Vehicle Scheme from the new restrictions.

LTA will allow people who register diesel cars in Singapore by the end of this year to renew their Certificate of Entitlement (COE). The COE is a document that grants people the right to own and use a vehicle in the country. However, Singapore plans to levy higher road taxes on the renewals as a disincentive, discouraging as many people as possible to continue using their polluting cars. The country already charges a road tax surcharge of 10-50% in case of vehicles that are more than 10 years old, according to their age.

Citing an industry source, CNA reports diesel car population in Singapore will decrease significantly by the mid-2030s. More than 17,000 diesel passenger cars are currently on the road there, but many dealers have already stopped importing new ones ahead of the upcoming ban. At the end of May, pure diesel vehicles contributed to just 2.7 per cent of all private cars on the road. LTA says that since 2021, diesel cars and taxis have made up less than 1 per cent of new registrations.

Singapore’s vision is to convert all its vehicles to run on cleaner energy by 2040. Singapore also plans to install 60,000 EV charging stations by 2030. In addition to promoting EVs, it is pushing more people to switch to public transport. The island nation wants 75% of their trips during the peak hours to be using public transport by 2030 and grow that number to more than 80% by 2040.

lta.gov.sg, channelnewsasia.com (CNA)