4 more pollutants added to vehicle emissions scheme

THE new Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) will be more stringent and have five bands instead of the current nine, with the maximum rebate or surcharge lowered by S$10,000, as the government heads towards a diesel-free city.

The current Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) will be replaced by VES from Jan 1, 2018 for two years.

For cars, the four bands each for rebates and surcharges have been S$5,000, S$10,000, S$15,000 and S$30,000 since July 1, 2015.

But under VES, four more pollutants are included in the rebate/surcharge criteria - hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter (PM).

VES has only two rebate/surcharge bands for cars and taxis. For cars, they are S$10,000 and S$20,000, with the VES rebate or surcharge to be determined by its worst-performing pollutant.

As petrol-engine cars emit lower levels of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter than diesel-powered versions, carbon dioxide will still be the key element in determining financial incentives or disincentives.

For cars, the carbon dioxide neutral band - which neither attracts a rebate nor incurs a surcharge - has been tightened from the current 136-185 g/km to 125-160 g/km. And the higher rebate is now capped at below 90 g/km.

So while petrol-electric hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius, will still qualify for the maximum rebate, they will get only S$20,000 instead of the current S$30,000.