Tesla Model 3 to get up to US$22,000 rebate in Singapore, says Transport Minister

Elon Musk presented the Tesla Model 3 as the “best vehicle you can buy for US$35,000”, regardless of the fact that it is all-electric or what kind of incentives are available to you, but the truth is that a lot of customers will have the opportunity to buy the car for much less (without options) – thanks to government incentives to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles.

I have a reservation and here in Quebec, if all goes well, I should still be eligible for a CA$8,000 (US$6,200) rebate by the time the car becomes available, which should go a long way to help alleviate the price difference due to the exchange rate between CAD/USD.

But the incentive in Quebec has nothing on Singapore’s. Singapore’s Minister of Transport Khwan Boon Wan said this week that under the global city’s Carbon Emissions Vehicle Scheme (CEVS), the Tesla Model 3 is eligible to up to SGD$30,000 (US$22,000) in incentives.

Channel NewsAsia reports:

“Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Monday (May 9) that the scheme – which incentivises car owners to buy environmentally friendly cars – would apply to the Tesla Model 3, which was launched in the United States on Mar 31.”

The Minister added that the vehicle would be subject to energy efficiency tests in order to determine its environmental impact when powered by Singapore’s electric grid.

Earlier this year, the first Tesla Model S owner in Singapore had problems with those tests and was slapped with a SGD$15,000 (US$11,000) fine instead of a rebate after the Land Transport Authority (LTA) determined that the Model S was more polluting than a gasoline car of similar size.

The results of the tests were widely disputed and Tesla CEO Elon Musk even spoke with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to investigate the issue. Tesla even issued a statement claiming that efficiency test results should have been almost 3 times lower than with achieved through LTA’s tests.

On the other hand, the Transport Minister’s comment about the Model 3 are encouraging and even though Tesla currently doesn’t have a presence in Singapore, the global city was among the countries from which anyone could pre-order the Model 3 and Elon Musk confirmed the automaker would soon expand in city.

Considering Tesla’s policy of adjusting the cost of its vehicles internationally according to the exchange rate and then including the country’s import fees, tax, and registration, without any other premium, and if the Model 3 can avoid Singapore’s high import fees for vehicles since the Model 3 is all-electric, the vehicle could end up a great bargain in the city of over 5 million people.