Greenlots roll out electric vehicle charging platform for the global market

Singapore clean technology company Zeco Systems is taking its electric vehicle (EV) platform global, under its infrastructure arm, Greenlots.

Consisting of Greenlots Point, Greenlots Solar, and Greenlots Sky, Greenlots is offering a complete solutions package which can already easily tap into the existing infrastructure of global cities. These solutions include the on-grid, as well as solar charging infrastructure,  as well as the web-based software which allows a host of monitoring and managing tools that can be operated remotely.

Intent on moving fast this year, the company has outlined that it targets to install Greenlots networks in over 10 countries by the end of 2010. Having partnered with countries such as Austria, Germany, China and Hong Kong, Greenlots has set its sights on other EV “hot spot” countries like India, Japan, Australia, France and Spain, among others.

With the uptake of EVs on the rise due to climate change, pollution and peak oil issues, this is a timely move by the company.

“We have designed Greenlots to be affordable, easy to install and convenient to use. This makes it simple for our global distribution partners to own and operate their own local networks, and for EVs to proliferate,” said Oliver Risse, Managing Director of Greenlots.

Green vehicles in 2010

This is the Mitsubishi iMiEV 16, one of the vehicles that will be introduced to Singapore roads in 2010 as part of a test-bed programme. We’re not sure how any of us will be able to take part in the programme, which apparently goes towards finding out things like driving time between charges, what type of charging station is optimal and suitable – Currently, different manufacturers have different specifications for charging stations, so you can imagine in the not too distant future, having to carry a giant power adapter – and in general, decide on the future of electric vehicles in Singapore:

“While EVs offer tremendous potential for improvements to both our energy and transportation landscape, there are also uncertainties that we need to manage. At this early stage, it is premature for us to tell whether EVs will eventually take off commercially and replace ICE-based vehicles, or if they will be superseded by other competing technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells.”

Most likely, it also means having to take into consideration the tweaking of the many road and fuel tariffs we have in our current land transport system.

Besides the Mitsubishi iMiEV 16, the other make likely to take up part of the 50 vehicles coming next year is the Detroit Electric, while Renault has announced that their EVs will only be available commercially from 2011.

EMA announces plans to electrify land transport

Better late than never as EMA capitalises on Singapore’s advantages – robust power grid, short average driving distances.

Excerpt from David Tan’s speech this morning:

…13. As part of our deployment plan for the EV test-bed project, the EV taskforce has been working with Renault-Nissan, Mitsubishi and other auto manufacturers to secure a supply of EVs for Singapore. Mitsubishi plans to roll out its i-MiEV model of electric cars next year. So we are expecting our first batch of up to 50 i-MiEVs to arrive from September 2010. Meanwhile, Renault-Nissan has indicated that its EVs will only be available for commercial sale in 2011.

14. We are now looking for interested companies to participate in the test-bed and be an early adopter of EVs in Singapore. Companies taking part in the test-bed can register their EVs under the Transport Technology Innovation and Development Scheme (TIDES), jointly administered by LTA and EDB. Participants will be required to collate data on the performance of the EV such as driving range between charging, ease of charging, annual mileage and total costs of operation. The data collected will be instrumental in evaluating the costs & benefits and overall feasibility of the future adoption of EVs in Singapore.

15. In the area of infrastructure, the EV Taskforce will be rolling out a small network of EV charging stations. We will launch a competitive tender next year to select an EV infrastructure service provider. A study will also be carried out to determine the number of EV charging stations that will be required for the EV test-bed and the specific location of these stations. In general, we expect most of the charging to be done overnight in the car parks of the EV users’ homes or offices. The deployment of these EV charging stations will be timed to coincide with the actual take-up of EVs under the testbed.

16. Singapore’s EV test-bed is envisaged to be an open platform for all auto-manufacturers and EV charging technology providers. The first batch of EV charging stations will have to be compatible with the EVs produced by the major auto-manufacturers. This is no simple task, as there are currently differing standards adopted by different markets. There is still no commonly accepted international standard for the power charging cable and it was only recently that the major
auto-manufacturers have agreed on adopting the SAEJ1772 standard for the EV couplers.

17. To address this, EMA, together with SPRING Singapore and our industry partners, have taken the initiative to work on a Technical Reference for public EV charging systems that is aligned with international practices and will take into consideration Singapore’s local conditions and electrical safety requirements. This Technical Reference, which we are targeting to launch next year, will set minimum standards for the development of EV charging systems and safe charging of EVs….