Standing at a taxi stand in Singapore these days has a subtly dramatic quality. Sedans and the occasional station wagon are among the familiar-looking cars that pull up, but the sound of a diesel engine is becoming less and less common. It was replaced by a gentle electric hum and occasionally almost complete quiet. If the major operators fulfill their commitments, all of the island’s licensed taxis will be battery-powered by the end of 2026. No engines with combustion. absence of exhaust pipes. Although it may sound lofty, Singapore has been working toward this goal for the past five years, and the finish line is now truly near.
When SMRT declared in April 2021 that it would completely electrify its fleet of taxis within five years, the story really took off. Later that summer, its subsidiary, Strides Taxi, started delivering 300 MG5 electric taxis manufactured in China, providing early-adopter drivers with free rental and unlimited charging for the first month. The fleet at the time had about 1,780 cars, which was small by international standards but sufficient to make a point. Strides effectively became the first significant taxi company in Singapore to set a strict deadline for going green. It was still unclear at the time if the rest of the industry would follow.
The answer came quickly. The largest operator in the nation, ComfortDelGro Taxi, which has about 10,000 taxis, declared in January 2022 that it would deploy up to 400 fully electric taxis in that year alone. Jackson Chia, their CEO, told The Straits Times that the company anticipates operating up to 1,000 electric taxis by 2023, with an additional 70% of its fleet being hybrid vehicles. Although the language was measured, the dedication was genuine. ComfortDelGro began testing electric taxis in 2018, and the company seemed to have finally made up its mind when it went from having four trial cars to hundreds.
Government funding and infrastructure made all of this feasible, or at least conceivable. In the 2021 Budget speech, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat declared that S$30 million would be set aside for EV-related projects over a five-year period, including private charging subsidies. Additionally, the government doubled its previous target to 60,000 charging stations by 2030. Up until the end of 2026, newly registered electric vehicles and taxis are eligible for a 45% registration fee rebate, up to a maximum of S$7,500. These are not insignificant rewards. Operators who were previously apprehensive now view electrification as inevitable rather than aspirational because they have sufficiently changed the economics.
However, there’s a feeling that the change hasn’t been totally seamless. Although it is growing, the infrastructure for charging is still uneven. In 2022, ComfortDelGro itself admitted that its initial rollout might not reach the full target of 300–400 electric taxis, depending on the rate of charger deployment. Although range anxiety and wait times at charging stations are still issues, drivers who have switched typically report lower fuel costs—a full electric charge costs roughly a third of an equivalent diesel fill.
The cultural significance of what’s coming to an end is also difficult to ignore. Once as much a part of Singapore’s visual identity as the Marina Bay skyline, the city’s famous yellow-top taxis are disappearing from the streets. Older locals have been posting memories on social media, including the fathers and uncles who drove those taxis and the passengers who liked the blue ones because they had air conditioning. Alongside the hope for cleaner air is a sincere and slightly melancholic sense of nostalgia.
The larger picture is important. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global EV taxi market is expected to increase from about $76 billion in 2026 to over $515 billion by 2034. Singapore is not operating in a vacuum. However, it is acting more quickly than most, and few cities have been able to duplicate the coordination between public policy and private operators. It’s unclear if every last diesel taxi will truly disappear by December because logistics have a way of extending deadlines. However, there is no longer any uncertainty about the direction. The combustion engine taxi is most likely nearing the end of its useful life, at least in Singapore.
