THE first of a new batch of public fast-charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) deployed by EV-Electric Charging (EVe) was launched on Monday (Nov 4) at Woodlands Civic Centre.
A Land Transport Authority (LTA) subsidiary, EVe is responsible for the deployment of EV chargers under LTA tenders.
The Woodlands station, which has one charger with two charging points, is the first of 20 under contracts awarded to charging point operators Volt Singapore and CDG-Engie in June, said EVe.
Volt Singapore is the charging solutions arm of Keppel, while CDG-Engie is a joint venture between land transport operator ComfortDelGro and French multinational utility company Engie.
A further eight chargers will be rolled out by the two operators by March 2025, with all 20 to be deployed by the end of 2025. Most of these will be fast chargers that can charge a typical EV up to 80 per cent in less than half an hour, compared to regular chargers which have less than 10 kilowatts and can take a few hours.
This is the first phase of a planned total of around 120 fast chargers that will be deployed at about 60 Housing and Development Board car parks in commercial complexes, town and neighbourhood centres, and JTC industrial premises, as announced by the Ministry of Transport at the Committee of Supply earlier this year.
These are the first public EV charger deployment contracts since the award of a large-scale tender to five EV charging operators in November 2022, which included a small number of fast chargers at HDB Hub at Toa Payoh and Oasis Terraces integrated development in Punggol.
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Speaking at the event, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor said that high-mileage drivers in particular need fast chargers. This includes taxis and private hire car drivers, but also fleet vehicles and commercial light goods vehicles that need a midday charge.
“We want to make it as convenient as possible (for them), given the increases in EV adoption rates,” she added.
At the launch, Dr Khor also announced LTA’s new EV guide, which was created with insights from drivers, car park owners, charging operators and mobility service providers, and encourages users to adopt good charging etiquette.
In response to a query on increasing the pace of EV charger roll-out as EV adoption continues, she said: “We are already rolling out slow as well as fast chargers and we will have to monitor demand and balance, ensuring there is convenience and accessibility, as well as reasonable utilisation of these chargers.”
She also said that the government will leave it to charging point operators to introduce a hogging charge in specific locations, if needed.
A hogging charge is an extra levy on vehicle owners who leave their vehicles plugged into the charger after charging is finished.
Tesla for example, charges S$0.50 a minute or S$1 a minute if the station is fully occupied.
“We leave it to them, but we will monitor…and ensure that there is good charging etiquette and we are able to meet the demands for EV charging.”
Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat said in Parliament in August that Singapore is on track for every HDB town to be equipped with charging points by 2025, with around one in two HDB car parks already equipped with charging points today.
Singapore’s national target is for 60,000 charging points by 2030, with 40,000 of those to be in public car parks and 20,000 in private premises.
