Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS)

By next year January 2013, current  green Vehicle Rebate Scheme (GVR) will be replaced by new Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) which will significantly change the car buying in Singapore. The GVR was introduced in 2001 and will end by the end 2012. This sceme currently gives electric, petrol electric hybrid, compressed natural gas (CNG) and Bi-fuel (CNG/petrol) passenger cars a rebate of up to 40 per cent off their Open Market Value (OMV), deducted from the additional registration fee (ARF). This is effectively a  100 percent discount on ARF, and a lower overall price.

CEVS will replace the current system with a performance based system, the new scheme will use car emissions as the deciding factor. It is designed to penalize the cars which more carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and courage the buying of lower corbon emission cars, according to performance bands. Like the GVR, the penalty or rebate is added or subtracted from the car’s ARF.

Cars registered as of  jan I 2013 will be effected by CEVS and penalties will begin only in July I 2013. Cars which do not meet Euro V emission standards (currently mandatory in Europe) will not be eligible for any rebates even if emission are in the A band. The minimum payable ARF, regardless of rebate, is $5,000. Rebates will begin on January 2013, while penalties (called the registration Surcharge’) will commence on July 2013.

In Singapore, owners of diesel passenger cars currently pay a diesel tax on the top of their annual road tax because diesel on sale is subsidized by the Government to make it more affordable for commercial vehicles. By January 2013, this tax will be reduced to $0.40 per cc, from $1.25 per cc. It will be applicable to all diesel passenger cars that meet the Euro V standard only.

Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) Rebates
Band	Carbon emission (CO2 g/km)	Rebate from Jan 2013
		Cars	Taxis
A1	0 to 100	$20,000	$30,000
A2	101 to 120	$15,000	$22,000
A3	121 to 140	$10,000	$15,000
A4	141 to 160	$5,000	$7,500

So what do all these new rules mean for you, the buyer? You can see the details of Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme here:  

• New cars, taxis and newly imported used cars with low carbon emissions (i.e. less  than or equal to 160g CO2/km) registered with effect from 1 January 2013 will qualify for rebates. This rebate will be given out in the form of an offset against the vehicle’s Additional Registration Fee (ARF) payable.
  
• Buyers of low carbon emission car models will enjoy rebates between $5,000 and  $20,000.
    
• Taxi companies that adopt low emission models for their taxi fleet will enjoy rebates between $7,500 and $30,000. The rebate for taxis is set at 50% higher compared to cars to encourage taxi companies to adopt lower emission models for their fleet, as taxis generally clock higher mileage and thus typically emit more CO2 per year than cars.
   
• As non Euro V-compliant diesel models  emit significantly more fine particulate matter, they will not enjoy the ARF rebates under CEVS even if they fall within the rebate emission bands. This applies to both diesel cars and diesel taxis.