Commentary: Giving up petrol cars is a lot more difficult for parents
SINGAPORE: Owning a auto is not merely a superficial pursuit, but a convenience and, I dare say, a necessity for some.
Equally a parent of three kids anile 5 and younger, I couldn't concur more.
Sending them to preschool and and then picking them up – sometimes with brusque intervals between the driblet-off and pick-ups, likewise as diverse other activities – is our lived reality.
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At that place's also the twice weekly drop-off and choice-upwardly to and from the grandparents' place – all the more than significant since work-from-home started last yr - giving us working professionals at least two serenity days a week to be productive at home.
Parents of immature children volition appreciate the complication of the logistics involved. Coordinating and manoeuvring your kids' schedules is near a full-fourth dimension job but thankfully one made easier by owning our own automobile.
PUSH FOR EVs
It seems a trivial strange and out-of-impact to talk about car buying when the land is on the cusp of an electric vehicle wave.
Earlier this month, the Regime launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and appear that it volition revise Singapore'south vehicle tax construction to make it easier to buy and own electric vehicles (EVs). Local banks DBS and OCBC besides rolled out support for the usage of EVs.
In his Budget spoken language on Feb 16, Deputy Prime number Minister Heng Swee Keat announced Southward$30 million to exist set aside over the next five years for EV-related initiatives. This, after the Green Program 2030 announced a fresh target of 60,000 charging points across the island by 2030.
The Finance Government minister also shared efforts to make EVs affordable locally – by lowering the Additional Registration Fee flooring to zero and by adjusting road tax bands.
In improver, he also raised petrol duty rates by 15 cents per litre for premium petrol and 10 cents per litre for intermediate petrol.
Information technology is clear the Government is trying to promote cleaner private transport use, which Mr Heng said will effect in the reduction of 24 kilo-tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
WHY NOT EVs Notwithstanding?
Don't get me wrong. I am non at odds with this national goal. Nor am I disinterested in contributing to cleaner private transport. Information technology is an important and laudable pursuit.
Merely it isn't a straightforward binary option between buying an EV and a regular petrol car. There are many considerations.
For one, pricing – which will be a primal determinant to anyone considering the switch.
Before this month, Tesla's entry-level Standard Plus Model 3 EV was just available through parallel importers at a price of around S$259,000. That was not a price that had me rushing to the showrooms to make a booking.
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In Feb, Tesla launched its directly sales portal for Singapore where the Standard Plus Model 3 will at present be retailed betwixt S$112,845 to S$158,334 depending on the variant chosen. Other bachelor EVs, such the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, currently costs more than Due south$150,000 here.
That is much better but bearing in mind that these prices exclude COE.
For that price range, I can purchase a much more spacious seven-seater car – such as a Mazda CX-eight, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota Prius Alpha Hybrid and a Peugeot 5008 – that is much better-suited to my family of seven.
Then there'south too the availability of charging infrastructure. That's currently inadequate.
If I was driving a petrol-fuelled machine and my vehicle was dangerously running out of fuel, there would be more than 150 petrol stations conveniently located beyond the island I could pull upwardly at to refuel.
If I was driving an EV and my battery was reaching dangerously low levels, would I take the same admission to charging points to assist me get on my journeying?
Looking at the announcements in the Budget speech, perhaps this infrastructure will exist available in the time to come. Simply for at present, I am not risking my car stalling mid-journey with three crying kids in it.
Moreover, on charging, fixing a charging signal in 1's home is also an additional outlay price. Although in that location may be loans for it and some EV companies exercise provide this service for a low or no cost, it's nevertheless a cost I have to deport in driving an EV.
Will IT Move THE NEEDLE?
I will consider switching to an EV, perhaps when buying one becomes more reasonable.
Perhaps when machine models to suit larger families such as mine, forth with the charging infrastructure, are more than readily available, with the cost of installing such points in my home low or negligible.
A removal of COEs on EVs for instance, would almost definitely nudge me to make the switch.
Yet, switching to EVs may just make a minor dent in Singapore'south emissions levels. As Mr Heng alluded to, the ultimate aim is "to become motorcar-lite" but switching to cleaner-energy vehicles along the mode will help Singapore "farther reduce emissions".
To move the needle in Singapore's land transport emissions, car buying must drop. But as a parent and motorcar possessor, this vision to get most of the states to requite up owning a car is easier said than done and is perhaps a very long-term proposition.
What would the alternatives be? Using public send has its challenges for those in our situation.
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Even if we were dauntless enough to manage three young kids on our own in a crowded SMRT railroad train or omnibus - assuming the other was occupied with work commitments - there is also the accessibility issue.
The nearest MRT station to my business firm is nigh 10 to 15 minutes away while the nearest motorbus stop has only one autobus service taking united states to the MRT station.
I know many parents do this regularly, but it is honestly an arduous task.
The next option is to have a private-hire vehicle. Parents will know that for passengers with children, the GrabFamily selection but has provision for 1 child. What does someone like me with 3 kids practise except carry forth my ain additional booster seats – non always a feasible choice.
If there was an choice to book for more child passengers I would gladly do so even though I cannot discount the extra expenses this will incur – an estimated S$v more per ride on a GrabFamily from my house in Changi to town. Taking a regular taxi will cost just every bit much.
Based on my family's projected usage, that works out to a sizable increment per month of between S$200 to S$300. My total spend on ride-hailing services per calendar month will thus make owning a car a rather economic proposition.
And so information technology is not merely about the logistical challenges of moving the family out and well-nigh while lugging additional booster seats forth with other packed necessities and more.
THE ECONOMICS OF Information technology
Yet owning a car may be more expensive.
Car instalments, road tax, petrol, parking and insurance on a modest auto could set ane back by almost S$1,300 to South$1,400 in a month.
Based on my estimates, if my family took Grab everywhere we went, we would spend between S$ane,100 to South$1,200 per month, based on travelling to and from 10 destinations per calendar week.
With the economics of owning a car only slightly more from regularly taking a cab - other considerations come into play.
Weighed against the convenience and comfort of hopping into my auto, belting my kids safely up and dropping them off at their destination within a reasonably curt time and with barely a drop of sweat falling from my brow, it is an easy choice.
But like many others, I too believe in the vision and importance of a car-lite society, and would one day feel more than confident contributing towards information technology – possibly when the MRT lines expand and bus services better as promised.
By then, my children will be a lot older, more independent and peradventure detest the thought of being ferried effectually past their parents. That will make it easier for us to requite upward the motorcar.
For now, we are glad we have a auto – even if information technology'due south non one operating on "clean" fuel and with petrol prices going upward.
Nosotros volition detect other means to save money and the environment – mayhap using less air-conditioning and being more mindful of our expenditure on utilities.
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Malminderjit Singh is editor at CNA Digital News, Commentary section.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/commentary-giving-petrol-cars-lot-more-difficult-parents-294586
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