Enhanced Vehicular Emissions Scheme to be extended until 2025

SINGAPORE: Drivers who buy cleaner car models will continue to receive higher rebates beyond this year after the enhanced Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) was extended until the end of 2025.

Tightened pollutant thresholds will be introduced for the scheme from 2024, however, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a joint statement on Thursday (Jun 30).

"The measures support the Singapore Green Plan vision for all new car and taxi registrations to be of cleaner energy models from 2030," they said.

VES was introduced in 2018 to encourage drivers to choose vehicles with lower emissions across carbon dioxide and four pollutants: Hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.

Under the scheme, buyers of cleaner cars receive rebates to offset the additional registration fee for their vehicles, while buyers of vehicles that produce more emissions are required to pay surcharges.

The enhanced version of VES with bigger rebates and higher surcharges was introduced on Jan 1, 2021, and was initially slated to last until the end of this year.

Enhanced VES rebates will remain unchanged until Dec 31, 2023, while current surcharges will remain unchanged until Dec 31, 2025.

Rebates from Jan 1, 2024, onwards will be announced next year.

The tightened pollution thresholds for enhanced VES will clearly distinguish between pure internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, cleaner alternatives such as hybrids, and electric vehicles (EVs), NEA and LTA said.

“Only cars with zero tailpipe emissions (for example, EVs) will qualify for Band A1, while Band A2 will include EVs with high power consumption, most hybrids and some pure ICE cars that are smaller and more efficient,” they said.

“Other pure ICE cars and some hybrids will fall under the other bands.”

NEA consulted the motoring industry on the tightened pollutant thresholds last year.

“Most motor dealers had no objections to the revisions, and the implementation timeline was extended to allow a longer lead time for the import of cleaner vehicle models, given the tightened thresholds,” NEA and LTA said.

More information on VES is available on the OneMotoring website.