My seven days with an electric vehicle

SINGAPORE – Come November 2026, the certificate of entitlement (COE) for my Hyundai Elantra will expire. 

I always thought my next car would be a petrol-hybrid. But after spending a week with the Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle (EV) and realising the ease of incorporating it into my daily routine, I am warming to the idea that an EV could be for me after all. 

The experience addressed my range anxiety, and instilled in me a newfound appreciation for aspects of an EV driving experience I had not previously considered – such as the silent ride that enabled me to tune in to podcasts of poorer audio quality, the absence of an idling engine and the ability to speed up quickly. The car could accelerate from 0 to 100kmh in 7.4 seconds, making overtaking or merging into a busy highway a breeze.  

My biggest concern was where and how often an EV needed to be juiced up, and how long it would take to get enough operating range so I would not be left stranded.

EV drivers have been urged to charge their vehicles as and when they come across a charging station, instead of doing so only when the battery gets depleted – but old habits die hard. 

With my Elantra, for example, I visit a petrol station only when the low fuel light comes on. 

In my line of work, being able to respond quickly is important, and I was afraid of being tied up at a charging station while waiting for the EV to charge up enough to get me to my next destination.

I was also afraid of incurring idle fees at charging stations if I left my vehicle plugged in for longer than necessary. 

The experience with the Ioniq 6 helped ease my transition in a few ways. 

First, the Hyundai EV has a decent range. I drove the Prestige 77kWh rear-wheel-drive (RWD) variant, which has a range of 614km on a full charge.

This was over 200km more than what my Elantra can do on a full tank of petrol, which is usually enough to last me five to six days. 

There is a version of the Ioniq 6 which has a smaller 53kWh battery and a range of 429km.

During my time with the EV, the range of the Ioniq 6 was more than enough to take me around Singapore for the week, including a few drives from east to west to visit friends and family.

However, I did make it a point to try charging up to find out what the experience was like.

The first charging station I stopped at – a CDG Engie station in Clementi Avenue 3 – was not working. Thankfully, this was early in the week and the battery had plenty of charge left.

The night before I was due to return the car, after six days of driving, the battery was still at 38 per cent or had about 200km of range left. I could have gone a few more days before charging it, based on my regular driving profile.

But spending a week as an EV driver also made me realise just how ubiquitous charging points are in Singapore these days, which helped to allay any lingering fears of being left stranded on the road with a flat battery.

The Republic has a goal of installing 60,000 EV charging points across the island by 2030, and as at November 2024, there were more than 15,300 of them.

The carparks at my office and home do not have chargers, but I found stations in most other places I visited during the week – in malls, at my gym and so on. 

I plugged in the car at an SP charging station at West Coast Plaza for about an hour while I was getting dinner and making a quick supermarket run. 

It was a fuss-free experience, especially since I could use the existing SP smartphone app – which I use to keep track of my utility bills – to pay. 

One hour of plugging into a 22kW alternating current (AC) charger cost me $10. The EV’s trip computer said that was good for an additional range of 55km or so.

I would have to download the apps of the operators of other chargers, which would be an extra step to live with when driving an EV. But this is an inconvenience I can live with. 

Charging up the car while making such pit stops would be more than sufficient in getting me around Singapore.  

With my main concern of driving an EV addressed, I was able to appreciate the finer things about the vehicle. 

The made-in-Singapore Ioniq 6, launched in July 2024, is one of three models the South Korean car manufacturer produces at the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore. The other two are the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 5 robotaxi. 

I appreciated the aesthetics of the Ioniq 6 – especially the glass roof and the curved back of the sedan, which gave it a sporty appearance. Another nice touch was the live camera view of the car’s blind spots on the display whenever the driver used the indicator. 

But the most noticeable thing about the interior was the spaciousness.

There is a convenient cubby between the front seats that is big enough to store my handbag – keeping items like my sunglasses and lipstick handy – so I do not have to move things to the back seat if someone jumps into the front passenger seat. 

One tiny grouse about the car was that Apple CarPlay could work only via cable, instead of wirelessly.

After the $25,000 government rebate, this variant of the Ioniq 6 still costs over $230,000. This puts it in the range of many alternatives, including the Tesla Model Y, which costs less. 

At a broader level, the benefits of an EV extend to the environment. 

For every kilometre that my Elantra travels, it belches out 162g of planet-warming carbon dioxide. An EV more than halves that – 58g/km in the case of the Ioniq 6. The Toyota Sienta, a petrol-hybrid car, emits143g/km. 

Singapore is acting to electrify its vehicular fleet, with the aim of having all vehicles here run on cleaner energy by 2040. This includes both electric and hybrid models. Given this trajectory, I am not inclined to switch to another internal combustion engine vehicle.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in his Budget speech on Feb 18 that Singapore’s transport sector accounts for about 15 per cent of Singapore’s total emissions.

This is an increase from the levels recorded in 2022, when transport contributed to 14 per cent of Singapore’s total emissions, according to National Climate Change Secretariat data.

Singapore has a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, so decarbonising the transport sector is critical. 

The country is moving on this front. In 2024, EVs formed 33.6 per cent of new car registrations, based on data from the Land Transport Authority.

Come next November, I am inclined to join their ranks. The question now is less about whether I will get an EV, but more about which one is within my budget. 

Hyundai Ioniq 6 77kWh (Long Range)

Price: $233,800 with COE, before discounts (valid until March 5)
Motor: Rear-mounted permanent magnet synchronous with 77kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed with paddle shift for modulating energy regeneration
Power: 168kW
Torque: 350Nm
0-100kmh: 7.4 seconds
Top speed: 185kmh
Power consumption: 14.3kWh/100km
Agent: Komoco Motors

Correction note: The article has been edited to reflect the transport sector’s share of total emissions in 2022, instead of just primary emissions.