As I found out later, the cause of my dismay that morning was a faulty aircon compressor, which also overheated the fan belt, wearing it out. My car was fully functional again a few hours later, after a brand-new aircon compressor and fan belt were installed.
That incident somehow led to an informative conversation with the mechanic (informative for me), who shared something that had never crossed my mind until then.
Thomas has a pool of regular customers who come to him to get their cars tuned up every few months or put back together if they’re banged up. Maintenance and repair works keep his one-man shop busy and put food on the table for him and the family.
But what he hasn’t been able to figure out just yet is how much runway his business still has as more and more electric vehicles (EVs) land in Singapore.
While gentler on the environment and arguably on the pocket, EVs are starting to cast a pall on the future of automotive workshops, especially smaller ones like Thomas’. The vast majority of workshops here handle cars with internal combustion engines (ICE), which have been powering the daily commutes of hordes of drivers around the world for over a century.
There were 26,225 electric cars in Singapore as at Dec 31, 2024, more than double the 11,941 a year earlier, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA). They accounted for about 4% of our entire car population of 657,744 last year, compared to 1.8% in 2023.
While the number of EVs is small compared to the whole car population — and even smaller relative to the entire population of over a million vehicles when you throw in buses, taxis, goods vehicles and motorcycles — their rate of growth is unmistakable.
The number of pure EVs grew at a compounded annual rate of 84% from 2018 to 2023. One-third of all new cars registered in Singapore last year were EVs. That’s up from 18% in 2023. In the first quarter of 2025, almost four in every 10 new cars sold in Singapore were fully electric.
Upskilling mechanics
Mindful of their growing appeal, the Singapore Motor Workshop Association (SMWA) set up a training academy near the end of 2020 to equip mechanics with the know-how to service EVs and hybrid vehicles. SMWA’s target then was to train about a tenth of the 10,000 or so automotive technicians in the country over the following three years.
The Covid pandemic, unfortunately, upended that target. Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong pointed out in a written reply to a parliamentary question on Oct 3, 2022 that only about 100 technicians had been trained since the start of 2021.
At its 50th anniversary celebration on Nov 3, 2022, SMWA took the occasion to again drive home the need for auto workshops to upskill themselves to remain relevant as Singapore seeks to end registrations of new ICE cars by 2030.
On its part, LTA rolled out the so-called National Electric Vehicle Specialist Safety certification programme in 2022. This is offered through a handful of training providers, including ComfortDelgro, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education.
Official updates since then on how many more technicians have received the relevant training, or how workshops have evolved, have been few and far between. It’s probably no surprise that the industry’s response is still muted.
One reason for this may have to do with the warranty for EVs from authorised dealers. The warranty period for an EV can be as long as 10 years, exactly how long a certificate of entitlement for any vehicle is good for.
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This means an EV owner, more often than not, will head to the dealer for regular servicing or to fix any problem throughout the lifetime of his car, rather than approach an external workshop.
There’s also no universal template that workshops can follow to repair or service electric cars, as all EV brands and even models of the same brand may differ in terms of make-up, complexity and other attributes. Information sharing is usually limited as EV makers want to preserve their trade secrets, given the keen competition.
More questions than answers
So, with Singapore intending to cease registrations of new ICE cars by 2030, what do the coming years hold for auto workshops?
Beyond that, what about parallel importers, car rental companies and commercial fleet operators, all of which require servicing for their ICE-powered vehicles?
If the exponential growth rate of EVs continues, surely dealers and importers at some point will have to bring in more battery-powered cars than conventional four-wheelers. Will workshops be sufficiently equipped to handle EVs by then?
The answers to these questions are anyone’s guess, but one scenario that could unfold is consolidation within the industry.
Larger workshops may buy out smaller, promising competitors. Some workshop owners may exit the trade entirely, not willing or able to move with the times. Even parallel importers — many of which currently outsource maintenance and repairs — may end up acquiring workshops to augment their after-sales support.
Whatever the case, some market players believe the transition to an electric future may not be fast-tracked, even in the face of various push and pull factors, which include government incentives and rebates for motorists to make the switch.
Roadblocks to adoption
Catalist-quoted Vin’s Holdings, which made its trading debut on the Singapore Exchange(SGX) in April, believes there’s still some hesitation among motorists about owning fully-electric cars.
“A major hindrance to the adoption of EVs is the availability of infrastructure to charge the vehicle, (and) the time it takes to charge an EV battery,” Vin’s pointed out in its placement offer document last month. This issue has more to do with Malaysia, a favourite getaway destination for many Singaporeans, rather than Singapore, Vin’s said.
Another deterrent is the lack of a second-hand EV market, making trade-ins unpalatable as sellers will have to contend with low valuations for their cars, according to Vin’s.
“Unlike used ICE vehicles that usually end up in less-developed countries, there is hardly any second-hand EV market in less-developed countries as they do not have the viable infrastructure to charge EV cars.”
Auto stocks on SGX
Besides Vin’s, there are more than a handful of other companies in the automotive sector that are listed on SGX. Not all are involved in EVs and some are doing well while others are just getting by.
Some of the more relatable names among them are EV maker Nio, which listed on SGX in 2022 by way of introduction, vehicle inspection specialist Vicomand Stamford Tyres, one of the largest independent distributors of tyres and wheels in Southeast Asia.
Another name may soon join this list of automotive companies on SGX. Sincap Group is in the process of acquiring three businesses dealing with commercial vehicle leasing, hire-purchase financing, and the servicing and repair of commercial vehicles. The $42.3 million purchase, funded almost entirely by shares, will result in a reverse takeover of Sincap.
The jury is still out on how the growing appeal of EVs will reshape the future of all these companies. Even Nio, which reported higher EV sales for the last three consecutive quarters, remains deep in the red, trailing far behind market leader BYD.
Ultimately, the growing popularity of EVs signals more than just a shift in consumer preference. It’s turning out to be a shake-up for auto workshops, car dealers, parts suppliers and others in the entire ecosystem.
Those ready to navigate the complexities of EV maintenance, high-voltage systems and new sales dynamics will likely thrive, while those stuck in ICE-era thinking risk being left behind.
As the industry charges toward an electric future, the real issue for all stakeholders isn’t just about keeping up — it’s about staying ahead.
