SINGAPORE - Singapore plans to embark on an electric car-sharing trial that could last up to 10 years and involve as many as 1,000 electric vehicles.

The inter-agency Electro-Mobility Singapore taskforce led by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Economic Development Board (EDB) issued a request for information on Monday for companies to submit proposals for the trial. The deadline for proposals is February 27 next year.

"The trial will enable the Government to gain a deeper understanding of the operating models and support required for electric vehicles to succeed on a larger scale in Singapore," said EDB and LTA in a joint statement.

In particular, the taskforce wants to know whether a one-way car-sharing model, in which users pick up cars at one location and return them at another, can be viable in Singapore.

The agencies said that such a one-way sharing programme can complement public transport here, for example by helping people to get to MRT stations and bus-stops. The sharing scheme can also give people access to cars without incurring the costs of car-ownership.

Up to 5 per cent of the electric car fleet will also be used to test cutting-edge technologies such as smart sensors, driverless vehicles and advanced charging solutions including wireless inductive charging.