Singapore car buyers prefer hybrid EVs to fully electric: Deloitte study

[SINGAPORE] Consumers in Singapore prefer hybrid electric vehicles (EVs) over fully electric cars, the Deloitte 2025 Global Automotive Consumer Study found.

This comes as 31 per cent of consumers in the city state chose hybrid EVs as the preferred engine type for their next vehicle, while only 12 per cent selected battery EVs, indicated the study, which surveyed 6,029 consumers across six South-east Asian countries including more than 1,000 in Singapore.

Cars powered by petrol or diesel ranked top, with 41 per cent of respondents in Singapore selecting that as their preferred engine type for their next vehicle.

Noting that interest in all-battery EVs remained “muted” in most markets, the study said that consumers’ preference for hybrid EVs over fully electric cars could be driven by the desire to “balance the perceived advantages and disadvantages of EVs”.

“Consumer interest in full hybrids … is gaining momentum in South-east Asian markets as consumers seek a ‘best of both worlds’ solution to reduce fuel costs and lower emissions without the need for charging infrastructure,” the study said.

“Hybrid vehicles bridge the gap between fuel cost concerns and charging infrastructure availability,” it added.

Singapore respondents named lower fuel costs (62 per cent), government incentives (48 per cent) and lower need for maintenance (47 per cent) as their top reasons for picking an EV as their next car.

However, they also had concerns about battery EVs. The time required to charge such vehicles was a leading concern, cited by 47 per cent of Singapore respondents.

This was followed by a lack of charging infrastructure, which 44 per cent cited as a worry, and safety concerns regarding battery technology, cited by 40 per cent.

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Diesel and petrol maintain regional reign

Across the board, car buyers in South-east Asia generally continued to favour internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, as interest in such models rose on the year for most markets, the study said.

In Singapore, preference for ICE vehicles rose from 38 per cent to 41 per cent, while that for hybrid EVs was largely unchanged.

ICE vehicles, powered by petrol and diesel, were car buyers’ top choice out of all engine types for the six markets surveyed. More than 60 per cent of respondents in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines selected such cars as their preferred next vehicle.

Respondents from Singapore (31 per cent) showed the strongest preference for hybrid EVs as their next car of choice, followed by the Philippines (18 per cent) and Thailand (17 per cent).

Declining interest in vehicle ownership among young

Interest in private vehicle ownership among younger consumers (aged 18 to 34) appears to be faltering, the study said.

This trend was particularly salient in Vietnam. There, 67 per cent of younger consumers expressed willingness to relinquish owning a private vehicle in favour of a mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) solution.

This was followed by Indonesia (58 per cent), Thailand (55 per cent), Singapore and the Philippines (50 per cent each) and Malaysia (47 per cent).

This comes even though South-east Asia consumers currently rely more on personal vehicles than MaaS solutions to fulfil their transport requirements.

Across the region, Singapore recorded the highest percentage of respondents who relied entirely on MaaS solutions to fulfil all of their transport needs, at 18 per cent, compared to 5 per cent or less for all other markets surveyed.

Interestingly, more than 40 per cent of younger consumers across all markets said they were open to adopting a subscription model in place of owning a private vehicle.

Vietnam was in the lead, with 66 per cent of younger consumers willing to consider foregoing private ownership in favour of a subscription model. It was followed by Thailand (49 per cent), Indonesia (48 per cent), the Philippines (46 per cent), Malaysia (45 per cent) and Singapore (44 per cent).