Singapore's journey towards wider EV adoption grows in 2021

Singapore made a great push towards electric vehicle (EV) adoption this year, with the Government unveiling several schemes to encourage consumers to make the switch.

It will set aside $30 million over the next five years for EV-related initiatives, such as measures to improve the charging provision at private premises.

There are also plans to deploy 60,000 charging points at public carparks and private premises by 2030 - a more ambitious target than the 28,000 set previously.

As the year comes to a close, here is a recap of the key developments in the EV sector that Singapore saw in 2021.

The US car manufacturer delivered its first cars to customers here in July, and its most basic Model 3, which costs nearly $200,000 in Singapore, immediately became the country's top-selling sedan by September.

Data from the Land Transport Authority showed the number of new Teslas on Singapore roads hit 487 by the third quarter.

The electric-car maker also set up its first three "supercharger" charging points at Orchard Central, making it the supercharger's debut in South-east Asia. It has since installed charging points at two other malls - Katong V and Millenia Walk - with plans to set up more in the future.

Vehicle leasing and distribution company Goldbell Group acquired electric car sharing company BlueSG in October for an undisclosed sum. It plans to invest $70 million in BlueSG over the next five years, and expects $40 million to be made by 2023.

Goldbell had said in a statement that among its priorities would be to establish an open innovation platform to act as a test bed for new and experimental pilot technologies and expand BlueSG's fleet and staff strength.

Separately, BlueSG also sold its network of 1,500 EV charging points to French energy giant TotalEnergies for an undisclosed sum.

TotalEnergies had said that it would continue to maintain and operate the chargers so long as it has approval to do so from the relevant authorities.

SP Group and Porsche Asia Pacific announced that they will launch three new Porsche destination charging (PDC) network sites by next month, adding 15 new charging points to the network.

Both parties have also partnered property developer City Developments (CDL) to expand EV charging infrastructure at four of CDL's properties - City Square Mall, King's Centre, Palais Renaissance and Quayside Isle - adding another 15 charging points to the PDC network.

Separately, SP Group said it had struck an agreement with Goldbell to make its EV charging network available to the group, and install EV charging infrastructure on Goldbell customers' premises. Its charging points will be available to BlueSG users, where feasible.

Transport operator SMRT announced in April that it plans to replace its entire fleet of taxis with EVs within the next five years. It added that it would bring in its first batch from July. SMRT said the fleet of EVs to be launched could include sedans, station wagons and multi-purpose vehicles.

The ride-hailing company and car manufacturer announced that they would launch new pilot projects in Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam to encourage EV adoption among Grab drivers and delivery persons.

The projects will test new EV business models, such as battery and car leasing arrangements.

Both companies said they hope to lower the barrier to entry for EV adoption in South-east Asia and allay fears that EVs have inadequate range to reach a destination.

ComfortDelGro Bus secured a $30 million contract to operate the shuttle bus service at the National University of Singapore (NUS) campus. With the deal, ComfortDelGro Bus is set to operate Singapore's largest electrified private bus fleet.

The electric buses will begin operations in the third quarter of next year.

Singapore Post began testing the use of three-wheel electric scooters to deliver mail here, it announced in July.

It has plans to replace all of its lighter vehicles with electric ones by 2026.

THE BUSINESS TIMES