Tesla Tops 2021 EV Sales In Singapore, MG Tied For 2nd With Porsche!

Our neighbouring island nation to the south recorded its most successful year yet for the sale of fully electric vehicles, partially thanks to government policies and incentives to encourage EV adoption.

In fact, 2021 was also the most successful year for EVs globally with some 6.6 million of them being sold worldwide according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), and this in spite of a persistent semiconductor shortage.

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) did not publish official numbers for EV sales but did show that there were 2,942 electric vehicles registered under private ownership at the end of 2021. Compared to that same figure from the end of 2022 - 1,217 units - that’s an increase of 1,725 units.

Probably to nobody’s surprise, Tesla topped the EV charts with 924 vehicles sold there. This dwarfs the joint second-place finishers Porsche and MG (wow, remember them?!) at 129 units apiece. This was followed by BMW with 121 units and Hyundai with 108 units.

Keep in mind, though, that in addition to Tesla’s being a poster child of the electric car movement, only the less expensive Model 3 is officially available for sale to Singaporean buyers. However, they should be seeing the arrival of Model S, X, and Y before long.

By comparison, the only EV offered by Porsche is the Taycan in its many variations, which does mean an expectedly lower sales volume due to the gulf in price. That said, car ownership, in general, is pretty costly there.

We’ve already mentioned how Singapore is uniquely suited for EV ownership given how limited the road network is and how one is never too far away from some form of charging station/point. Even electric cars with a middling range are unlikely to run into issues, such as the MG ZS EV’s claimed 335km (NEDC) from a 44.5kWh battery.

Back to Malaysia, 2022 is shaping up to be a very active year in terms of electric vehicles as well with numerous models being scheduled for launch here to take advantage of similar policies and incentives as outlined by the government in last year’s Budget tabling.