New Vehicular Emissions Scheme to Replace Carbon-Based Emissions Vehicle Scheme From 1 January 2018

New Scheme Will Cover Four More Pollutants to Reduce Harmful Vehicular Emissions

As announced at the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR)’s 2017 Committee of Supply Debate, NEA will introduce the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) to replace the Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) for all new cars, taxis and newly imported used cars with effect from 1 January 2018.

In addition to the carbon dioxide (CO₂) criterion in the existing CEVS, the VES will cover 4 other pollutants - hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM).

The rebates and surcharges for the respective VES bands are shown in Table 1:

Table 1: VES Banding Rebates and Surcharges

The VES rebate^[1] or surcharge for a car or taxi will be determined by its worst-performing pollutant. This is to encourage buyers to choose models that have lower emissions across all criteria and are cleaner overall, so as to further improve ambient air quality and thereby improve public health^[2] (refer to Annex A for Singapore’s air quality targets).

Similar to the existing CEVS, the rebate and surcharge for taxis under the VES will be 50 per cent higher to better encourage taxi companies to adopt lower emission models for their fleets, as taxis generally clock higher mileage than cars.

To account for the CO2 emissions produced by electricity generation from fossil fuels, an emission factor will be applied to the electricity consumption of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) as measured under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Regulation No.101 test procedures.

The VES will be applicable for all cars and taxis registered from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019. The scheme will be reviewed regularly and take into consideration its impact on motorists’ purchasing decisions, technological advances in vehicles and the progress of Singapore’s overall mitigation efforts on climate change and air pollution.

Extension of the current CEVS

CEVS was introduced in 2013 to encourage the purchase of low carbon emission vehicles, and it was revised in 2015. The average CO2 emissions of new cars and taxis have decreased by 15 per cent since the start of CEVS. The existing CEVS, which is due to expire on 30 June 2017, will be extended to 31 December 2017 to give the vehicle dealers more time to prepare for the new scheme and import cleaner vehicle models.

Enhancements to the Fuel Economy Labelling Scheme (FELS)

To help potential vehicle buyers make informed decisions, fuel economy labels will be re-designed to include information on each vehicle’s VES band. The new label will need to be affixed on showroom cars displayed for sale when the VES is implemented from 1 January 2018.

[1] The Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) is calculated based on the ARF paid after accounting for the VES rebate. The VES rebate is subject to a minimum ARF payable of $5,000.

[2] Long-term exposure to PM is associated with decreased lung function, development of chronic bronchitis, stroke and premature death. In addition to increasing the risk of respiratory infection and impairment of lung functions in asthmatics, HC and NOx are also precursors to ozone; excessive ozone can also impair respiratory functions. CO reduces the amount of oxygen that can be transported in the blood stream to critical organs like the heart and brain. Singapore currently does not meet its 2020 air quality targets for PM10, PM2.5 and ozone.

Source: Land Transport Authority