The chairman of the Sustainable Infrastructure Committee at the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore, Dr Sanjay C. Kuttan, raised concerns about the greater adoption of electric vehicles in Singapore in a commentary.
Most of the concerns raised assume the traditional model of automotive ownership, which certainly should not be the case in a country like ours which prides itself on being at the forefront of technological advancements - especially when they may be vastly more efficient than existing solutions.
The alternative model, which was being worked on as early as 2009 by Google's Project Chauffeur - or self-driving car project - is projected to boost the efficiency of privately owned, human-driven cars.
Already, Transportation As A Service is not a concept foreign to most Singaporeans. Grab is proof that automotive ownership can be transformed.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are inevitable and the motivation for their use, whether profit-driven, welfare-driven, or defence-driven, is inconsequential.
In this model, the density of charging points becomes less of a concern.
Fleet management software will be able to plan optimal vehicle paths with the need for charging (when and where) considered.
Based on the Land Transport Authority's statistics in 2016, the average number of daily trips made by a taxi peaked at about 29 in May, with average mileage at close to 10km a trip.
That works out to be under 300km a day.
Already, the Tesla Model S Long Range's claimed range of around 600km with every charge far exceeds that number.
It is not a stretch to consider that AVs, shared or privately owned, will be able to charge themselves during off-peak hours.
Deloitte's projection of a supply gap of electric vehicles in 2030 would, too, be fundamentally shaken with the adoption of on-demand AVs.
Even if that were not the case, the artificial suppression of the supply of vehicles through the certificate of entitlement scheme and taxes could be adjusted to compensate for an increase in prices.
While electrification of vehicles may be a component in our drive towards sustainable development, it is part of a larger industry whose developments may render obsolete the need for vast spending on public infrastructure and incentivisation schemes.
Kenneth Chow
