Tesla Model S owner fined for excessive emissions in Singapore

The first person in Singapore to own a Tesla has been fined £7,600 because his all-electric car was deemed to produce more harmful emissions than a petrol-powered V8 Range Rover. Instead of receiving a grant from the Singapore government, the man was banned from driving his Model S until he paid the fine.

Joe Nguyen, a 44-year-old IT professional, imported a used Tesla Model S P85 from Hong Kong in July 2015, hoping to have the first Tesla vehicle to hit Singapore's roads. Little did he know he was at the start of a seven-month regulatory ordeal, at the end of which he'd pay a 15,000 Singapore dollar (around Rs 7.2 lakh) carbon emissions surcharge on a vehicle that does not even have a tailpipe.

VICOM, a private vehicle inspection provider that tested the Tesla for Singapore's transport authority, found that Nguyen's 2014 Model S had an equivalent CO2 emission of 222g per kilometre. The emissions were calculated using a "grid emissions factor" that puts a value on the emissions created by energy use - in the Tesla's case, when it converts electricity into power. For comparison, a Range Rover with a 4.4-litre V8 engine produces 219g/km.

Nguyen, who is vice president of an Internet analytics firm, was understandably outraged that an electric vehicle attracted an emissions surcharge. But not for long. The person who eventually came to his rescue was none other than the founder of Tesla Motors himself.

Since news broke about Nguyen's problems, Elon Musk called up Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of Singapore; the pair recently met on a visit by the prime minister to the US and Silicon Valley. Musk tweeted to say they had spoken and he would "investigate the situation." It was later confirmed that various government agencies were looking into what happened and how it can be prevented from happening again.

Despite this and the issues faced by Nguyen, Singapore offers $15,000 rebates for buyers of other electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf. Ironically, the rebate Nguyen was hoping to receive is exactly the same size as his fine for driving a vehicle the state sees as polluting.