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More than half of van registrations in 2023 were electric; Chinese EV brands most popular

2024-01-31 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - There were 1,451 electric vans registered in 2023, representing 52.6 per cent of all registrations of light goods vehicles for the year.

Chinese brands dominated the registrations in 2023, making up seven out of the 10 best-selling brands. The rest were European or Japanese.

These electric vans have a maximum laden weight of up to 3.5 tonnes.

In 2023, electric van registrations formed 43.4 per cent of the total population of electric commercial vehicles in Singapore, which includes goods-cum-passenger vehicles, heavy vehicles and buses.

There were 33 fewer electric vans registered in 2023, down from 1,484 units in 2022, representing a drop of 2.2 per cent.

The total number of vans registered fell by 40.5 per cent – from 4,635 in 2022, to 2,758 in 2023.

Chinese manufacturer BYD held on to its top position from 2022 with 310 registrations, accounting for 21.3 per cent of electric van registrations in 2023. It is represented by ST Engineering and sold through a network of dealers.

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In 2022, the brand had 461 van registrations, accounting for 31 per cent of all electric van registrations here.

Trailing behind with 218 units in 2023 was Shineray, a Chinese producer brought in by EVCo, a joint venture between SMRT subsidiary Strides Holdings and Chinese electric vehicle (EV) firm Dishangtie Green Technology (Hong Kong).

With 156 registrations, France’s Citroen was the best-performing non-Chinese brand for electric vans.

It was 20 units ahead of German brand Opel (136), which was fourth overall.

DFSK, a Chinese manufacturer, came in fifth with 118 registrations, followed closely by the parallel-imported Toyota (117).

There were 17 brands of electric vans available in Singapore in 2023, compared with 12 brands in 2022.

The data published by the Land Transport Authority showed that monthly registrations dipped after the first quarter of 2023.

This coincided with a change in emissions-testing regulations and a halving of tax incentives that kicked in from April.

Commercial vehicles not registered before the switchover required a permit under the new testing regime to be allowed for sale. Tax rebates for electric vans were halved from $30,000 to $15,000.

Of the 1,343 electric vans registered by the top 10 brands in 2023, 875 were registered in the first three months of the year, and 468 registrations were spread over the remaining nine months.

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Corresponding to the rush to register vehicles ahead of the switchover, certificate of entitlement (COE) prices for commercial vehicles hit an all-time high of $91,101 in the first tender exercise of March 2023 – a significant increase from $48,999 in March 2022.

The COE premium fell after the switchover. At the latest tender exercise in January 2024, it was priced at $68,001.

After the deluge of registrations, The Straits Times reported in August 2023 that there were more than 70 units of practically new registered electric vans listed for sale on an online used-vehicle portal.

More recent checks on the Sgcarmart portal on Jan 30 showed 25 electric vans registered in 2023 with less than 1,000km on the odometers listed for sale. This suggests there are still pre-registered vehicles on the market that have yet to be sold.

The market for electric vans is expected to get even more crowded in 2024.

French brands Peugeot and Renault started promoting their electric vans in late 2023. In January, motor dealer Hong Seh EVolution, which already carries DFSK vehicles, launched SRM, another Chinese EV brand. SRM also manufactures Shineray.

As at January, there are more than 2,400 charging points in over 700 Housing Board carparks across all 26 towns.

The Government aims to have at least 12,000 chargers in about 2,000 HDB carparks by 2025.