China’s Electric Vehicles Welcome – In Asia
There's a Growing EV Market in Asia
While the United States has choked off trade of electric vehicles from China, you won't see sky-high tariffs from Singapore.
by Hope Kahn, National Press Foundation
While the United States has choked off trade of electric vehicles from China, you won’t see sky-high tariffs from other nations.
In Singapore, EV sales have surpassed 30% of new car sales over the last few months, according to Dean Cher, head of mobility at the SP Group. “One key reason for that is really because we see a lot more mass market EVs. And the mass-market EVs – guess where they’re coming from? Well, they’re coming from China.”
“From a business point of view, I actually do welcome Chinese EVs coming down because as long as we have mass-market cars, then we’ll see greater adoption,” Cher said.
Singapore’s plan to achieve net-zero carbon neutrality prioritizes electric vehicles and the eventual elimination of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
Cher says that electric vehicles make sense as a solution in Singapore because it’s such a small country. “Every Singaporean doesn’t have to think about traveling more than a hundred kilometers a day,” and in terms of charging, Singapore has one of the “most stable grids in the world.”
The infrastructure in Singapore is “not a problem,” Cher said, but there are possible issues surrounding grid power availability in the “regional neighbors.”
Will other nations look to EV alternatives?
Fuel cells, which are another environmentally friendly alternative to traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles, provide another possible solution – but it requires a lot of work, Cher said.
Petrol stations would need to dispense hydrogen rather than petrol, but due to hydrogen’s “volatile” combustion level, “it’s actually pretty dangerous.”
When asked by an NPF International Trade Journalism fellow about the sustainable trade issues of electric vehicles, particularly human rights issues near the start of the supply chain in the mining of nickel and cobalt, Cher acknowledged that “the production of EVs, arguably, [use] more carbon than an ICE vehicle,” and there are questions of the “sources of mining, child labor and modern slavery.”
“It’s probably the same questions that you ask of any other industry as well … we do read the news about fair trade, sustainable trade. Your chocolates that you buy in London, for example, are they really sustainable?” Cher asked. “As long as we’re all conscious about it, then I think industries will change at some point. But again, that may be a different complexion or question from whether we want to buy an EV or not in first place.”
Speaker: Dean Cher, Head of Mobility, SP Group
Transcript, summary and resources: https://nationalpress.org/topic/dean-...
This fellowship is part of an ongoing program of journalism training and awards for trade coverage sponsored by the Hinrich Foundation.
This video was produced within the Evelyn Y. Davis studios. NPF is solely responsible for the content.
