SINGAPORE – Electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Singapore hit a new high in the first three months of 2025 with 4,383 units – 40.2 per cent of total car registrations – being EVs.

In 2024, EVs made up 33.6 per cent of total car registrations, which was up from 18.1 per cent in 2023.

This is as total car registrations – at 10,883 units– is 35.2 per cent more than in the same period in 2024, on the back of more certificates of entitlement (COEs) being available to register cars, based on Land Transport Authority car registration data published on April 16.

With 2,183 units, Chinese brand BYD not only has the lion’s share of the EV market but also dominates the total car market representing one in five new car registrations.

This leaves Tesla (413 units) in second place and BMW (361 units) in third. In all, 34 car brands registered EVs in the first three months of 2025, which is the same number of brands as in 2024.

Another Chinese brand, Xpeng, which was launched in Singapore in August 2024, is ranked fourth with 190 units, up from seventh position in 2024. GAC from China is ranked sixth, up from ninth.

Between the two Chinese brands is Mercedes-Benz in fifth, up one position from 2024.

Supercharged by incentives to spur adoption and aggressive efforts by motor dealers to promote such vehicles, experts expect the share of EV adoption to continue to increase.

EVs can get up to $40,000 in tax breaks while the cleanest petrol-hybrid cars on sale can qualify for $5,000 in rebate. Conventional internal combustion engine cars can be slapped with up to $20,000 in penalty depending on how poorly they fare in the Vehicular Emissions Scheme that favours EVs and hybrids.

EVs with a power output of up to 110kW use a Category A COE while those above that threshold utilise Category B, which tend to be more expensive.

The Category B COE premium was $117,889 while Category A was priced at $97,724 at the most recent tender exercise.

Mr Vincent Ng, an automotive consultant for Vincar Group, distributor of Chinese EV brand GAC Aion, said that recently, prices of some Category B COE EVs have been significantly lowered, bringing them closer to what popular mass-market Category A COE EVs are going for, calling the situation an ongoing “price war”.

Mr Ng said that the incentives g...