Reader's Response Draft 1

In the article, "Electric vehicles will take over Singapore. But here’s what must happen first", Kuttan (2020) discusses that Singapore aims to eliminate internal combustion engine vehicles by the year 2040. For a start, Singapore needs to take reference from Norway which is the lead in the world of EVs. Kuttan reports that to make the change, the government will need to work alongside private companies like BlueSG for the charging stations and Wilson parking infrastructure. In addition to encouraging consumers to change to a greener means of private transportation, the government also discusses that by upgrading and electrifying the public transport system more people might just ditch the idea of private transportation. To speed things up, the author suggests that there could be a separate COE for electric cars. While Singapore has the ambition of having only electric vehicles on the road by 2040, I believe that it is a journey not without risks. The government must ensure the driver's safety and convenience for the big change.

First, we talk about the aspect of the driver’s safety. While internal combustion engines do sometimes catch on fire due to the petrol during a severe crash, their electric counterparts are not entirely safe from explosions. Most electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries, and it holds a large amount of voltage to power the whole car. In the event of a crash, the batteries may be badly damaged and short circuits may spark a fire. The fire you get from internal combustion engines is not the same as from a lithium-ion battery. As described in Alliance Global Corporate and Specialty (2020), fires from high voltage batteries are more intense and is not very easy to put out. They can also release high levels of toxic gases into the atmosphere.

 

Secondly, consumers are naturally concerned about the maintenance of electric vehicles as they are directly affected by it. Out of the many reasons why people own a car, the purpose of transportation is almost always in the mind. Also, when their vehicles break down or when the time comes for periodic maintenance, people who drive electric cars can’t just go to any workshop. They’ll need to go to specific workshops that specialize or have mechanics that can work on electric vehicles (Lee, 2021). Hence, it makes sense for them to be wanting convenience.

 

However, despite the various risks and or disadvantages of swapping to electric vehicles, these ‘green’ cars are beneficial for the overall health of the planet. Electric vehicles produce little to zero carbon emissions and that is considered a great improvement from petrol cars. As written in (Benefits of electric cars on the environment, 2016), just one electric vehicle on the roads can save on average approximately 1.5 million grams of carbon dioxide.

 

Nonetheless, while the car itself may produce zero carbon emissions in operation, the process of making the individual components that makes up the car still contributes to the demise of our world. Obtaining lithium is not a job without the detrimental dangers that follow. For example, in Tibet, to obtain lithium to be used in the production of lithium-ion batteries, the mixture of chemicals extracted from the ground are left to be evaporated in ‘evaporation’ pools. These pools contain hydrochloric acid and potentially it could leak and contaminate a country’s water supply and ultimately poison the wildlife (Katwala, 2018). Considering this fact, since it is dangerous for countries that sources lithium, it is not sustainable in the long run and especially for a small island like Singapore.

 

To conclude, while there are benefits to driving an electric car, it is in the best interest of Singapore to study and analyse the potential risks that come in the journey to a change.

 

 

 

References:

 

Amit Katwala. (2018, August 5). The spiralling environmental cost of our lithium battery addiction. WIRED UK; WIRED UK. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact

 

‌‌‌Benefits of electric cars on the environment. (2016). EDF. https://www.edfenergy.com/for-home/energywise/electric-cars-and-environment

 

Growth of electric cars: New risks and claims scenarios | AGCS. (2021). AGCS Global. https://www.agcs.allianz.com/news-and-insights/news/electric-vehicles.html

 

Kuttan, S. (2020, February 23). Commentary: Electric vehicles will take over Singapore. But here’s what must happen first. Channel News Asia. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/singapore-budget-2020-electric-vehicles-ice-ves-hybrid-car-2040-1338746

 

Lee, K. (2021, April 20). Most Common Problems with Electric Vehicles (EV). CARRO Blog. https://carro.sg/blog/common-problems-electric-vehicles-ev/

 

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