While mainstream adoption of electric vehicles may still seem like a distant future in Malaysia, it’s a different situation for our neighbours south of the border. It seems Singaporeans are more eager for new legislation to switch to electric cars according to a research by Polestar, with 42% of respondents in favour of banning ICE cars by 2030 or earlier.
The Swedish premium electric performance car brand has revealed its findings indicating strong consumer demand for legislation towards switching to electric cars. Polestar’s global study involved 18,000 participants from 19 markets across North America, Asia Pacific and Europe.
The study showed 34% of consumers are in favour of banning internal combustion engine (ICE) cars by 2030. The figure increased to 47% for ICE cars to be banned by 2035. Of those surveyed, three-quarter of which believe that society needs to consume differently to preserve the climate and environment for future generations.
Among the countries surveyed in the region, South Korea ranked the highest with 48% welcoming new legislation to ban ICE cars by 2030 or earlier, closely followed by the UK (44%) and Singapore (42%). Various European countries followed (Germany with 37%), while China stood at 35%.
Other notable entries include Australia (34%) and the US (33%), with New Zealand (28%), Norway (27%) and Finland (20%) rounding off the list.
“With just 1.5% of today’s vehicles on the road being electric, it is clear we are living in an EV bubble, not an EV boom,” said Thomas Ingenlath, ceo of Polestar. “We need governments to lead the charge with robust policies, both on infrastructure and addressing electricity prices so that drivers can confidently go electric, but more importantly, car makers must act now and not wait for policy changes,” he added.
In June 2022, the European Council of Environmental Ministers agreed that by 2035, new cars placed on the EU’s market must be zero-emission vehicles. Countries like Thailand, Japan, UK and Canada have announced that ICE cars will be banned by 2035. Audi and Volkswagen said it would phase out ICE cars by 2035 while Subaru and Mazda announced that its vehicles will be electrified by the same year.
