THE $20 million in government funding to help put electric vehicles on the road beginning next year comes in the wake of important breakthroughs in green automotive technology.
Research and development in energy storage has yielded alternatives that are lighter, capable of holding a charge longer and more readily recycled than lead batteries.
Electric cars continue to go farther before requiring charging. As they begin to match vehicles running on petrol or diesel in terms of distance as well as utility, they are becoming the more obvious choice for being more energy efficient and thus, environmentally safer.
More so than almost all countries, Singapore is a good fit for them.
Commuting distances in the compact city state rarely exceed their range. Electric motors emit almost no pollutant, unlike internal combustion engines which spew fumes that contain carcinogenic and other harmful particulates.
Electric cars will transfer their environmental impact to power stations that supply them electrical energy, but the three main electricity generating plants - PowerSeraya, Senoko and Tuas - run mostly on natural gas, which burns more cleanly than does coal or oil.
If even cleaner energy options emerge later, it is more practical and economical to retrofit a few power stations than 850,000 petrol or diesel vehicles.
In helping to set up the infrastructure for electrical charging, the Government will need to consider a separate grid or different tariffs.
It has to ensure prices will not rise for all consumers as demand increases. With little doubt remaining in the environmental argument for going electric, land transport policy needs to focus on pricing, including the true cost of congestion. How much will electric cars add to traffic jams?
The 40 per cent rebate on additional registration fee for "green" - including electric - vehicles recognises their smaller carbon footprint despite their similar physical size. If electric cars really catch on by 2011 when the rebate ends, the green incentive might become counter-effective.
A more desirable approach would be to favour electric buses and taxis over cars.
Greening public transport will kill two birds with one stone: Help to reduce peak-hour gridlock while serving the environmental cause.
Singapore has fewer buses per million people than Hong Kong or London, according to the Land Transport Authority. Adding electric buses to the fleet is the way to catch up.
These are fast becoming as clean and as energy efficient as lighter electrical vehicles.
Electric motoring is getting the green light, but the road ahead must be clear.
