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1 in 3 HDB carparks to have EV charging points by end-2023

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Another 2,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points are slated to be installed in more than 700 - or one third - of Housing Board carparks islandwide by the end of the year.

Transport Minister S. Iswaran gave the update on EV charging infrastructure on Wednesday, at an event to mark the roll-out of the first charging points under a large-scale tender awarded in November 2022 to deploy some 12,000 chargers at nearly 2,000 HDB carparks by 2025.

There are three chargers located at Level 3A of the multi-storey carpark at Block 80D Telok Blangah Street 31, and another three at Block 212A Boon Lay Place.

Other EV chargers are expected to be ready at various HDB carparks in the coming months.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the pace of EV adoption is increasing, with electric cars accounting for 11.8 per cent of all new car registrations in 2022. There are more than 6,500 electric cars on the roads, and nearly 10,000 EVs after including other vehicle classes.

Mr Iswaran said: “We are on track to deploying at least 12,000 charging points by 2025 to help meet the charging needs of Singapore’s growing EV population.”

The charging points at Telok Blangah are operated by ChargEco, a joint venture by SMRT subsidiary Strides Mobility, YTL PowerSeraya Limited, Airetec and Yes Energy Service. The charging points at Boon Lay are operated by Charge+.

The chargers at the HDB carparks are rated at 7.4 kilowatts. The ones in Telok Blangah charges 50.2 cents per kilowatt-hour while those at Boon Lay are priced at 52 cents per kWh. Charging up a vehicle like the MG5, which is used as a taxi by Strides Mobility, takes around 8.5 hours.

According to the EV charging map on LTA’s MyTransport smartphone app, the next closest EV charging points to Telok Blangah are in commercial buildings and petrol stations in the Alexandra Road area. For EV drivers in the Boon Lay area, the next alternatives are at petrol stations in Bukit Batok.

These are fast EV chargers are operated EV Mobility, Shell and SP Group. 

The LTA has set up a new company called EV-Electric Charging (EVe) to oversee the roll-out of the EV chargers, which includes coordinating the upgrading of supporting electrical infrastructure needed for EV charging.

EVe’s chief executive is LTA group director (special duties) Derek Tan, whom the authority said has extensive experience in managing HDB branches and carparks from his stint as HDB group director (housing management).

The company’s board is chaired by Mr Khoo Teng Chye, who is the director for NUS Cities and Practice Professor at the College. It also comprises experts from the private and public sectors.

Singapore aims to have more than 60,000 EV charging points by 2030, of which 40,000 are in public carparks and 20,000 in private premises.

The LTA is currently running a “call for solution” on its Land Transport Innovation Portal till March 13, for ways to install EV chargers in HDB carparks without hefty infrastructure upgrades. This is especially in locations where the switchrooms supplying power to carparks do not have excess capacity.

There are three chargers located at Level 3A of the multi-storey carpark at Block 80D Telok Blangah Street 31, and another three at Block 212A Boon Lay Place. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
 

This call is open to companies, research institutes or institutes of higher learning, and shortlisted solutions will be funded by the LTA, subject to criteria set by the agency.

SP Group said its first EV charger in an HDB estate under the large-scale tender will be ready in March, starting in Tampines. The utilities provider has been offering EV charging since 2018 in commercial and private residential buildings. Usage at these locations seems to be evenly spread throughout the day, it said.

Charge+ said it expects to roll out more than 100 charging points at about 40 HDB carparks by April 2023 in the western and central regions.

LTAELECTRIC AND HYBRID VEHICLEShdbMinistry of Transport