Tengah to get dedicated car-sharing service with hybrid, electric models

Residents in Tengah housing estate will have access to various electrified Toyota models through a car-sharing pilot scheme between Toyota distributor Borneo Motors and energy provider SP Group.

The announcement was made at a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding between the two parties last week.

When launched in June next year, the cars can be booked through SP's smartphone app or the Kinto Share app, operated by Borneo Motors.

This will be the first time that users of SP Group's services can hire a car through its app.

Inchcape Singapore and Greater China owns Borneo Motors. Its chief executive officer, Ms Jasmine Wong, said: "With this initiative, we combine our expertise in electrified vehicles with SP Group's eco-charging solutions to embark on a significant step in steering the nation towards a more responsible and sustainable way of living."

Borneo Motors and SP Group will also set up an innovation and experience centre in Tengah to help residents learn about sustainable mobility solutions.

Borneo Motors launched Kinto Share last year for its on-demand car-sharing service with Lexus models. On its website, prices for daily rental start from $198.

The collaboration with SP Group will see the vehicles being parked in dedicated carparks in Tengah. The exact details are still being worked out.

This is the first time Kinto Share will serve a housing estate.

Currently, users of the car-sharing service pick up the vehicles from the Lexus Boutique in Leng Kee Road. They can also pay for doorstep delivery and retrieval.

SP Group and Borneo Motors are also conducting joint research into electrification, focusing on areas such as user behaviour and vehicle energy consumption, to further develop their future electric mobility programmes.

The Tengah pilot, which is to run for five years, will initially have eight Toyota models, seven of which are hybrids that do not require access to an electric vehicle (EV) charger. The eighth is the bZ4X, the Japanese car brand's first fully electric vehicle, which will be officially launched in Singapore by then.

A plug-in hybrid model is also said to be in the pipeline.

To encourage take-up, Tengah residents will be offered preferential rates for both the car rental and EV charging.

Located in the western part of Singapore, Tengah consists of five districts with 42,000 residential units. Touted as a "smart-energy town", it features EV-ready carparks. Solar panels located on the top of residential blocks also supply the needed electricity to power selected parking spaces with EV chargers.