Singapore explains how to pollute without polluting.
According to a pretty wacky sounding report from Singapore-based Channel News Asia, a resident of the city-state in Southeast Asia was handed a tax charge of around S$15,000 (around 14,500 Australian Dollars) when he imported his Tesla Model S. Singapore’s Land Transport Authority say the EV owner was handed the tax as the Model S is too polluting.
Mr Joe Nguyen had to jump through many hoops to merely obtain the proper licenses for his Tesla to brought in and allowed to roam the streets. But it seems the car was not eligible for Singapore’s Carbon Emissions-baed Vehicle Scheme (CEVS), which coincidentally would mean a rebate of around S$15,000.
Mr Nyugen said: "I don't get it, there are no emissions. Then they send out the results from VICOM, stating that the car was consuming 444 watt hour per kilometre (Wh/km). These are not specs that I have seen on Tesla's website, or anywhere else for that matter. And then underneath it, there's a conversion to CO2 emission."
This is definitely a strange thing to happen to fully electric car and its owner as pollution is typically thought of as fumes deposited by the car itself, a byproduct of petrol or diesel combustion.
But, here’s the kicker. Singapore has revised its CEVS terms to include grid emissions as a contributing factor to overall pollution. In short, the electricity that is used to charge the Model S would have to be generated – usually through a process that in some way pollutes the environment – is what offsets the Tesla (and other EVs) to fall into producing 216-230g/km, even if it is indirectly.
If this sort of grid electricity generation testing catches on, its possible that this Model S is the first of many emissionless cars to actually undergo emissions testing.