Tesla just started to sell Model 3s in Singapore this year, and the number of new Teslas on the road there has risen from 30 in the first half of 2021 to 487 in the third quarter, according to Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA). Tesla became the country’s sixth-most popular car brand in September.
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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.
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Last weekend we reported on Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) slapping an important tax surcharge on the Tesla Model S after running some emission tests and rating its energy consumption at 444 Wh/km. After accounting for Singapore’s grid emission factor of 0.5 g CO2/Wh , the LTA determined that the Model S somehow ended up on the worst end of the global city’s scale for vehicle pollution (C3 band).
Tesla has now issued a response (you can read the full statement below) and claims that when the Model S tested by LTA left Tesla’s factory in 2014 (yes it took a while to import it), it had an energy consumption rated at 181 Wh/km, less than half of what Singapore’s transport agency is claiming. How can we account for the discrepancy?
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Update: Tesla responds to Singapore’s Model S CO2 emissions test, and could it be as simple as poor math?
If you think it’s difficult to buy a Tesla in Texas due to direct sales law, wait until you learn what consumers in Singapore have to go through to buy a Model S. Singaporean Joe Nguyen reportedly spent months trying to get a licence for his car to be driven on local roads and instead of having access to the Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) rebate of $15,000 SDG (~$11,000 USD), he was charged a tax of the same amount after the government determined that the car is not “fuel-efficient”.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke directly with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who assured him that he would investigate the issue.
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