Vid Hypersonic February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 Sad.... I would have considered the car with the tax break ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Electric car firm pulls plug on S'pore Tesla exits after failing to secure 'green' tax incentives, making its cars unviable here By Christopher Tan, Senior Correspondent AMERICAN electric car company Tesla Motors is pulling the plug on plans to market its zippy, battery-powered sports cars to the wealthy and environmentally hip here - just six months after setting up an office at Suntec to do just that. It will pack up next week, without having sold a single car. The Straits Times understands that the company is pulling out because it failed to secure 'green' tax incentives for its cars, making them unviable. The two-seater Tesla Roadster, which runs entirely on lithium-ion batteries that can be charged from a normal household socket, would cost $400,000 to $500,000 without the incentives. That is in the ballpark of cars like the Porsche 911 and Maserati Granturismo. But had the tax break been granted, the car would have cost around $250,000 or less. The Economic Development Board, which is in charge of approving the tax break, said Tesla had not met 'technical requirements'. A Tesla insider said the company had garnered about a dozen bookings, most on condition that the tax break be granted. A few were willing to buy the car without the tax break, but Tesla said the numbers were too small to justify its presence here. One of the willing was businessman Melvin Tan, 38, who said: 'Too bad. I really quite liked the car.' Tesla Motors Asia-Pacific director Kevin Yu told The Straits Times: 'Unfortunately, Singapore has not turned out to be the market we hoped it would be. 'Given the Roadster's limited production run and the enthusiastic support from both customers and governments for the vehicle in other markets, Tesla has decided to focus our limited resources elsewhere.' He cited some examples of 'enthusiastic support'. They include Japan, which is granting 2.61million yen (S$40,000) in cash rebate for each Tesla buyer; Hong Kong and Malaysia, where electric vehicles are tax exempt; and various cities in Europe and America, which have similar tax breaks of varying amounts. Mr Yu added: 'We do hope that at some point in the future conditions will be right for re-entry...we have no plans at this point.' Meanwhile, Singapore's plan to test-bed a fleet of electric cars is still stuck in the slow lane. Public infrastructure for charging the cars is expected to be up and running only in the middle of the year, though the first batch of cars has arrived. Cycle & Carriage has brought in a fleet of 10 Mitsubishi iMiEV hatchbacks - the first of 25 committed here for the test-bed. The cars, which are set to be granted tax breaks, will sit in a warehousing area for the next half-year or so. Nissan and Renault said they hope to bring in electric models later this year, but are awaiting the green light regarding the tax rebate. The effort to bring in a trial fleet of electric cars - to test their durability in a hot, humid environment - started several years ago. ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamburger Hypersonic February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 obviously they don know what our garment priorities are .......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLZT 6th Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 obviously they don know what our garment priorities are .......... Yeah, agreed. Our government already having prob with reducing the traffic yet Tesla want them to give tax rebate to the customer. Moreover Profit > Saving the environment in the gov eyes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_kkh 1st Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 opps my friend's sis bought 1 and driving now......... now that suxs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friendstar Supercharged February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 opps my friend's sis bought 1 and driving now......... now that suxs i tot they didn't sell a single unit? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamburger Hypersonic February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 referring to this maybe........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xspace 1st Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 250K, you will buy? Not me man... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chengwh492 Clutched February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 most who go to sinkieland suffers the same predicament. it is smart that they can pull out without having sunk in millions and billions in infrastructure, then that will be difficult to pullout. when the surrounding countries evolved and pickup their act, sinkieland is finished! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smhomie Clutched February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 I'm glad they realized quickly what SG is all about and left while they have yet to suffer subsistence costs... they have good business sense. EVs would never work here and will suffer an even worse fate than CNG trend. SG infrastructure was not engineered to accommodate EVs. Mobility on demand + non-existent infrastructure + lousy tax incentives + high insurance premiums = extremely low adoption rate. No point in pursuing EV business here. When started 2 years ago, people asked me the eventual end state, I said it will never work out. I still insist on that till today. Its ok for SG to be the regional test bed or R&D centre for EVs, not as a market. It will fare poorly given consumers' commuting habits & lifestyle demands. In the article it was curiously mentioned that 'Tesla did not meet technical requirements'.... If Tesla being the pioneer in commercial release of consumer EV cannot pass, how can mass production brands like Mitsubishi/Nissan hope to pass? Tesla is a dedicated EV plant with high assembly quality using high quality parts, unlike the others. I hope to see EV test bedding done soon, I would love to see an EV stuck when flooding occurs. The battery packs are separately stored have a ventilation system with full management system. When water floods, all systems kaput and short circuited. EV will have to be decommissioned and scrapped. So much for eco-sustainability Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonTan 2nd Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 No money to be earned.....sure slow lah. Electric bicycle also enforced like mad liao. Even normal bicycle already so many rules. Green my Foot. If the old man never nod his head....nothing gets done in Singapore. There are so many petrol stations in Singapore. Is it so hard to install an inverter charging unit at the petrol stations for these electrical cars? So many office blocks can easily assign 1-2 lots for these electric cars charging point....so many red tapes needed to install a battery charger in Singapore meh, really? How much a single charging point cost? S$10,000 enough or not? Just one single COE bidding, can easily cover at least 100 charging points all over singapore liao! Once again....advanced green city.....MY FOOT. Meanwhile, Singapore's plan to test-bed a fleet of electric cars is still stuck in the slow lane Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mllcg 3rd Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 (edited) green? lol. no petrol how they earn? either that, or they charge higher road tax like diesel cars. Edited February 12, 2011 by Mllcg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koko 4th Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 Sillypore garment earns a lot tax from refinery to petrol selling... do you think they will help the green car which will endanger their profit meh..... sillypore garment is money minded...NMNT Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike1234 1st Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 Firstly, i would say ppl wouldn't choose this... One of the reason is hybrid engines are relatively unproven (in terms of reliability , cost,etc) Thus most ppl would choose other makes instead of this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mllcg 3rd Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 Firstly, i would say ppl wouldn't choose this... One of the reason is hybrid engines are relatively unproven (in terms of reliability , cost,etc) Thus most ppl would choose other makes instead of this but electricity charging is cheaper than petrol. can even charge in your house if u stay landed property. also, electric car does not kill the earth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike1234 1st Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 but electricity charging is cheaper than petrol. can even charge in your house if u stay landed property. also, electric car does not kill the earth. If given a choice....would u want? Actually, if u charge at (say landed or places with the charger)... You also need to spend hours charging the car (which means u also burn more fuel in order to get the electricity to charge the car) Btw, this car is actually meant for performance... I'm not saying the Mitsubishi I (electric version) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mllcg 3rd Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 If given a choice....would u want? Actually, if u charge at (say landed or places with the charger)... You also need to spend hours charging the car (which means u also burn more fuel in order to get the electricity to charge the car) Btw, this car is actually meant for performance... I'm not saying the Mitsubishi I (electric version) even then, which is cheaper, charging for a few hours, or pumping petrol? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redplanet Clutched February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 Pass or not, can or not, in the end, it's all about the dollars and cents.... that's what makes the world go round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felipe 3rd Gear February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 Even diesel which is cleaner than petrol these days cannot get rebate, much less EV cars. The decision is not surprising. Profit is more important than the environment. That's why i never bother to protect the environment, not in SG at least. ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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