Singapore aims to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040

Singapore aims to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, making a bigger bet on electric cars as part of its efforts to cut greenhouse gases and fight climate change, the finance minister said on Tuesday.

The wealthy city-state of 5.7-million people, which is hiking investment in flood defences, joins Norway, Britain and others in setting a target to cut the use of vehicles with combustion engines.

"Our vision is to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles and have all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040," finance minister Heng Swee Keat said in his budget speech.

Singapore, which has been criticised by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk as not being supportive of electric vehicles, is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy a car, and there are few electric vehicles on the roads.

In Tuesday's budget, Heng said measures to encourage electric vehicle adoption included a registration fee rebate on purchases of fully electric cars and taxis.

The country, an oil-refining hub, will also expand public battery-charging infrastructure to 28,000 points by 2030 from 1,600 now.

"As a low-lying island nation, rising sea levels threaten our very existence," Heng said, adding that he was setting aside a coastal and flood protection fund with an initial injection of S$5bn (about R54bn).

Last year, the prime minister said protecting Singapore against rising sea levels could cost S$100bn or more over 100 years.