LTA E-Scooter Registration & UL2272 Certification – What All Riders Need to Know

Update: Effective from Nov 5 2019, e-scooters have been banned from footpaths. You can only use them on park connectors and bicycle lanes. Non-UL2272 e-scooters can be disposed at 180 locations around Singapore until 31 March 2020.

As of 2 Jan 2019, electric scooter riders in Singapore are required by the LTA to register their e-scooters (much as you would a car). So much for being a car-lite nation, huh?

But seriously, while these added rules and regulations sound like bad news for e-scooter riders, they’re actually supposed to make everyone safer and free from hit-and-run accidents, exploding batteries and the like.

Some fast facts on the latest LTA requirements:

• All electric scooters must be registered with LTA by 30 Jun 2019
• LTA registration can be done on LTA OneMotoring website or at SingPost. The $20 registration fee is waived until 31 Mar 2019
• After registering, you need to stick your registration number “license plate” on your e-scooter
• You can continue riding your registered e-scooter until 31 Dec 2020, after which it will be auto-deregistered if it’s a non-UL2272 e-scooter
• From 1 July 2019, retailers are no longer allowed to sell non-UL2272 electric scooters
• From 1 Jan 2021 1 Jul 2020, only UL2272-certified electric scooters will be allowed in Singapore

Yup, that’s a lot to digest, so read on for a more detailed breakdown:

LTA e-scooter registration – what does it apply to?

A couple of preliminary points before I jump into the SOP for LTA registration:

LTA’s new regulations apply to electric scooters only. Personal mobility devices like unicycles, hoverboards and electric wheelchairs do NOT need to be registered, while electric bicycles should have been registered with LTA already.

Your electric scooter also needs to be compliant with LTA’s regulations. No point trying to register your modded-to-hell Dualtron lah, okay. To recap, here they are:

• Max. weight 20 kg
• Max. width 70 cm
• Top speed 25 km/h

All right, so assuming you have an LTA-compliant electric scooter, here’s what you need to do…

Step 1: Register your e-scooter on OneMotoring or at SingPost

This can be done on LTA’s OneMotoring website (need SingPass) or any SingPost (if you’re a dinosaur) by 30 Jun 2019. You need to be at least 16 years old to apply.

Online application is easier; just submit:

• Softcopy colour photo of your electric scooter
• If your ride is UL2272-certified, a softcopy colour photo of the certification mark on the scooter
• $20 registration fee (waived until 31 Mar) payable by credit card or NETS

After you’re done, you need to wait for your registration number to arrive by registered mail.

If you’re impatient, you can do the e-scooter registration at SingPost. You’ll get the LTA registration mark on the spot. But SingPost registration is quite leceh because you need to do all these:

• Printed & completed copy of the e-scooter registration form
• Either your NRIC/FIN (if you’re registering as an individual) or hardcopy ACRA business profile (if you’re registering as a business)
• Hardcopy colour photo of your electric scooter
• If your ride is UL2272-certified, a hardcopy colour photo of the certification mark on the scooter
• $20 registration fee (waived until 31 Mar) payable by cash or NETS

Again, the deadline for e-scooter registration is 30 Jun 2019, but best to do it by 31 Mar 2019 if not you lugi $20.

Step 2: Print out a big big e-scooter “license plate” sticker

Once you register your ride, you’ll receive a Registration Mark from LTA. It’s a small sticker with your registration number on it. You’ll get this over the counter if you do it at SingPost, if not you need to wait for it to arrive in the post.

It doesn’t end there though.

Separately, you ALSO need to create (or get someone to create) a nice big sticker that prominently displays your registration number. This will be your “license plate”.

You can get it done at various signcraft shops in Singapore… or just on Carousell. A preliminary search for “e scooter registration sticker” shows Carousellers doing this for $5 to $10.

No need to surf Pinterest for pretty designs, because LTA already provides the templates. You just need to select the shape (circle or rectangle) and colour (black with white text or yellow with black text).

Step 3: Paste BOTH registration stickers on your e-scooter

You have 14 days upon successful registration to do this.

Again, now is not the time to indulge your artistic side. You cannot anyhow place it wherever you like – LTA has instructions on where exactly they want to see both stickers.

Be super sure to do it by end of June, because from 1 July 2019, it will be considered an offence to ride an unregistered e-scooter in public. You can be fined up to $5,000 and/or serve a 6-month jail term. (Can someone please add this to the “Singapore: A FINE City” t-shirt already?)

What’s the deal with UL2272 certification?

I’ve mentioned UL2272 certification quite a few times here. This is an independently-issued safety mark that indicates the product has been tested for fire safety.

This UL2272 thing is a huge deal, because from 1 Jan 2021 1 Jul 2020, ONLY UL2272-certified electric scooters are allowed in Singapore.

That means that, even after you register your non-UL2272 e-scooter this year, you need to scrap it at the end of next year. Yup, as of today, 4 Jan 2019, your non-certified e-scooter has only 726 days left to live. I’m sorry.

The real problem is that UL2272-certified electric scooters are rare in Singapore. Look at this list of UL2272-certified models provided by LTA:

• Xiaomi Mijia M365
• Ninebot Segway ES1
• Ninebot Segway ES2
• Uberscoot ES-05A
• Hoverzon Cruiser
• Gaoke Times P10
• Swagtron SwagCycle E-Bike
• Swagtron SwagCycle Envy E-bike
• Swagtron Swagger 1
• Kiwigogo F1K
• Jetson Beam
• Koowheel E1
• Better Wheels BT-ASC06

With the exception of the Xiaomi e-scooter and Ninebot Segway e-scooters, the rest of the list are non-mainstream models. You can’t just walk into Scooter Hub and ask for a “Gaoke Times P10”.

Certification is still ongoing, however, although the process is reportedly slow, so you can hope and pray that the e-scooter you own gets certified soon.

Should you still buy that electric scooter?

If you already own an e-scooter that’s not UL2272 certified, your e-scooter has basically been given a death sentence. Nothing much to think about, just accept it and move on.

However, if you don’t already own one but are looking to buy an e-scooter this year, the new UL2272 rule will be an important consideration for your purchase.

You will either want to (a) restrict yourself to only UL2272 models, or (b) buy a non-certified model and just live with the 2-year limit.

For (a), I’ve just listed the UL2272-certified models available. It’s probably difficult to get your hands on the Xiaomi or Segway scooter because demand has shot up since the announcement. If you can wait, I expect that electric scooter retailers will try to do preorders for the other models later on though.

Wondering if you should hang around and wait for that Inokim or Dyu to get UL2272 certification? Eh… I honestly don’t know if/when that would happen. You think the Israeli or Chinese e-scooter manufacturers care so much about Singapore regulations meh?

So, while (b) sounds silly at first glance, it might actually be the more sensible option. Think of it as buying a car with less than 2 years of COE – as long as you know what you’re getting into, it’s fine. Plus, retailers will be rushing to clear stock before this “expiry date”, so there’s a chance to get a cheaper deal on that Dyu.

For what it’s worth, 2 years is considered a normal lifespan for an e-scooter in frequent use, according to this Falcon PEV article.

To be precise, this is the lifespan of the battery, which is usually the most expensive part of the e-scooter. So if it goes, you might as well get a new ride. But, I personally think it’s a shame that you won’t be able to change to a fresh batt and keep the scooter body you’re used to.

What will you do now that the e-scooter registration and UL2272 rules have kicked in? Tell us about it in the comments.