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THE first of a new batch of public fast-charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) was launched on Monday (Nov 4) at Woodlands Civic Centre.

These 120-kilowatt chargers can charge a typical EV up to 80 per cent in less than an half an hour, compared to regular chargers which have less than 10 kilowatts and can take a few hours.

The Woodlands station, which has one charger with two outlets, is the first of 20 under contracts awarded to charging point operators Volt Singapore and CDG-Engie in June.

Volt Singapore is the charging solutions arm of Keppel, while CDG-Engine 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.

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 carparks 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.

The fast chargers will benefit drivers of high-mileage vehicles, such as fleet, taxi and private hire drivers, who need a quick midday top-up in carparks they frequent, said Land Transport Authority subsidiary EV-Electric Charging, which is responsible for the deployment of EV chargers.

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 carparks 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 carparks and 20,000 in private premises.