The era of diesel cars is here...

TO BUY or NOT to BUY?

Humans have depleted black oil in an exponential rate faster than it can produce naturally.  Some predicted that there will not be any black oil after another 100 years.  With no gas for cars, other forms of energy are needed to power up our transport vehicles.

Electric cars are the main stream of replacement and there are many effort put in place for innovations.  If you visit LTA website, you will notice that Hybrid (aka Petrol-Electric) cars are gaining market share in Singapore.  But the cost of owning a hybrid car has little incentive but the cost is exorbitant.  It is nearly a prestige to own one.  Can the savings offset the premium of hybrid car?

If you dig further, you notice that Peugeot 2008 1.6 e-HDI EGC active car running on diesel has a mileage of 3.8 L/100km (Combined).  This is way better than an old car running at 9.0 L/100km.  With the pending retirement of 30% of the car population in Singapore due to expiry of 10-year COE, it is a good time to consider all options: To buy or not to buy?

OPTION 1: BUY NEW CAR

If you want to buy, you may wish to get the best deal.  Here, we will review only the petrol costs of ownership in the next 10 years.

Petrol or diesel is expected to increase over the years and on average, we predict that the price may increase by 50% in the next 10 years.  This is a logical presumption based on the petrol price in 2004 is S$1.50/litre and now 2014 is US$2.20/litre.

The choice is whether to get one running on petrol or diesel.  The next question to ask is whether to get a hybrid or not.

OPTION 2: EXTEND COE

You may also opt to extend the COE of the current car if it is still in mint condition.  However, in view of the high COE, it is not a great option now.

GAS COSTS FOR 10 YEARS

The estimated gas consumption for 10 years are:

1. Old car (1.6 litre extend COE 10 years): S$32,116.50
2. New car (1.6 litre petrol): S$24,979.50 (Saving: 22.22%)
3. New car (1.6 litre diesel): S$11,970.70 (Saving: 62.73%)
4. New car (hybrid on petrol): S$ 13,560.30 (Saving: 57.78%)
5. New car (hybrid on diesel): S$ 11,094.80 (Saving: 65.45%)
6. Electric car:: S$5,897.80 (Saving: 81.64%)

Interestingly, if you choose diesel cars, the saving on gas is more than 50%.  If you choose hybrid on diesel, you will pay S$11k instead of S$33k.  Really? Why? What is the trick?

There is no tricks.  Just make sure you choose an efficient car that RUNS ON DIESEL.  Why?  Because you will save S$20k in the next 10 years.

If you can afford, get a hybrid car running diesel.  Peugeot 2008 (S$117k) is one of these diesel cars.  In LTA website, only 3 out of top 40 gas saving cars run on petrol.

For electric option, the new 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf and Fiat 500e consumed only 2.02 litre/100km (US Environmental Protection Agency aka EPA).  In short, you will pay only less than S$6k instead of S$32k over 10 years factoring inflation on gas prices.  A hidden cost is the battery depreciation which warrants a change every 3 to 5 years (same for hybrid cars).  The biggest headache is there is no way to charge your car battery in Singapore...yet.

OTHER WAYS TO SAVE COSTS

There are also other costs involved which you may wish to read further HERE.  You may choose to take a cab instead of buying.

Alternatively, you can change your driving behaviour and learn from Wayne, who clocked 59 MPG or 4 litre/100km on an old Accord.

The economy of taking taxi

Introduction

Taxi is hailed as the most expensive personal transport for those who do not own a car.  It is deemed impossible to book during peak and shift changing hours and costs a bomb for long distance travel.  In this tiny island, there are 6 taxi operators fighting for the slices of market share with demand always outstripping supply.

Mobile Apps

With the emergence of taxi apps such as GrabTaxi, EasyTaxi and Uber, there is simply no turning back now.

Conventional booking methods adopted by taxi companies are outdated and could not cope with the demand of the customers.  I have personally waited 30 minutes on my mobile and still there is no taxi available as informed by the operator.  Perhaps, the operator is the bottleneck as well as a cost factor.

Mobile app connects the customer to the taxi driver directly and eliminates the middleman.

Supply of taxi

More importantly, mobile apps also do not restrict customer to a particular taxi company and broaden the choices of the customer. In particular, private cars under Uber can respond and indirectly UberX forms the 6th "taxi company".  To consumers, more is always good as choices are available to meet demand.

From another perspective, taxi drivers can wait for bookings instead of circling round and round to hunt for prospectives thereby saving petrol.  It is a win-win situation.

Consumer Experiences

The satisfaction from customers is the ultimate measure of whether the services are good.  By having more choice, direct messaging and contacting with the driver, real time tracking of approaching taxi, cashless payment and the ability to give ratings on the drivers complete the entire service evaluation. By the conventional method of calling for cab, it is always a one-way traffic and there is hardly any feedback loop unless you lost something or the driver is nasty.

Cheaper taxi fares?

Uber claimed that there is a 25% savings if you book UberTaxi.  We managed to get an actual case of UberTaxi during off peak period clocking a distance of 23.91km and a trip time of 24:55min.  The charged fare is S$20.62 which is 19.1% cheaper than normal cab rate (S$24.58).

Another saving can be the booking of premium cab for short distance of less than 12km.  The standard rate is S$38 for less than 4km or S$50 for other distance.  Using UberExec, a short distance of 6km costs only S$22.10.  This is especially useful during peak hours and normal cabs are hard to come by.

Extra goodies

GrabTaxi offers GrabCar (6) and GrabCar (13) which can accommodate more than 4 passengers.  This is particularly handy when we wish to move in group and booking of multiple taxis is a co-ordination nightmare.

EasyTaxi has the lowest booking fees of only $2 during off peak period and like all 2 mobile apps, provide cashless or credit card billing services.

Uber has an ongoing promotion which gives $10 for one-timer.  Enter promotion code uberdear can instantly give you $10 to try out their service.

Conclusions

It is exciting to look forward and guess what these companies are offering.   We have yet to try out MoobiTaxi, Split it, Come Fetch Me, Taxi Monger and Taxi Booking.  They are new comers and are looking for their pie of the cake in the taxi industry.  To consumers, it is always good news that more mobile apps are available to offer choices for us.  Perhaps, the best is yet to come.

Cheapest drive to Johor from Singapore

From 1 Oct 2014, the toll charges in Causeway have increased and it is no longer economical to drive to Johor Bahru town centre.  The traffic is still crowded during peak hours but one thing is certain: no one with a sound mind will drive in just to pump petrol or take a meal especially he is alone.  Having said that, it is still worthwhile if the car has 4 or 5 passengers to share the costs.

Straits Times reported that there is a saving of 30% incentive (S$9.40) to use the second link (http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/second-link-traffic-likely-increase-higher-causeway-tolls-kick-201409).  However, the maths just simply does not add up.  Perhaps it is a misunderstanding on their part or they listen to the wrong advice.

One may wonder which option is the cheapest to drive to Johor now with second link thrown in.   Below chart can be your reference:

From the table, you will save S$1.50 by driving to Johor via Second Link and return via Causeway.  By factoring the petrol costs and possible toll charges between the 2 destinations, the net saving may vanish altogether.

The Malaysian authority has accurately priced the toll charges in Causeway in anticipation of Singapore's move to equal its tolls.  In general, it costs S$11.50 to 13.70 to make a round trip.