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….