I am very happy to hear that Hyundai will be manufacturing electric cars in Singapore (S'pore-made Hyundai electric cars for local market initially, Oct 14).

I am hoping that this will be a watershed to propel Singapore into a future of a green city of electric cars, as well as a smart city of self-driving cars.

Singapore is a small country and is ideal for electric vehicles.

For a start, we do not need bulky, large-capacity, expensive and heavy batteries for long-distance travel.

Second, we also do not need large roomy vehicles for the comfort of travel for long journeys.

This is an opportunity to incorporate the new trend of phasing out the polluting internal combustion engine.

This will kill two birds with one stone.

We will have an efficient and clean system of transport, ideally suited to a small, highly urbanised city like Singapore.

At the same time, we will be able to embrace new technology to boost our economic growth.

This is an opportunity not to be missed. We may even be able to attract other well-known manufacturers such as Tesla chief Elon Musk to further boost our economy.

George Wong Seow Choon (Dr)