26 charging stations will be set up for Singapore’s Electric Vehicle (EV) test bed programme. The inter-agency Taskforce led by the Energy Market Authority and the Land Transport Authority has appointed Bosch to set up the infrastructure. For a start, the charging stations will cater to the first batch of Mitsubishi i-MiEV‘s being brought in for the test-bed. EV models by other car manufacturers are expected to become available in 2011.
All but one of the charging stations can fully charge an electric vehicle within eight hours. The remaining quick charge station can do so in 45 minutes. Bosch will work closely with each EV user in the test-bed programme to site the locations of these charging stations. The quick charging station will be sited at a location which the EV users can conveniently access. The charging infrastructure will be ramped up over time to match the take-up rate of EVs in Singapore.
- Good news for prospective Singapore electric car owners and users. This should be a much better idea in the long run and more sustainable than the handful of CNG refueling stations that have been put up around the island. Recent feedback from some taxi drivers I talked to has confirmed my opinions on CNG – according to them, CNG is not as cheap nowadays, the range is limited, and yes, the tank takes up valuable space. And of course CNG is still a fossil fuel.
EV adoption in Singapore should make an interesting study. Singaporeans are a pragmatic lot, so for any alternative solution to work, it has to be affordable and convenient, and there has to be little compromise in terms of power and range. I was talking to a colleague about EV’s this week – he’s not alone in this, but to him an acceptable electric vehicle range has to be at least the same as conventional cars, which would be say 400-600 km (250-370 miles). So until pure electric cars fall in price, we are of the opinion that plug-in hybrids would be much more acceptable over here in the meantime.
See also :
1. Singapore electric vehicles : Government agencies EMA and LTA to study EV introduction
2. 2010 Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car to be more affordable, plug-in hybrid planned
3. 2010 Nissan Leaf electric car specifications : 107hp, 24KWh lithium-ion batteries, 100-mile range
4. 2010 Mitsubishi i-MiEV to comprise first batch of 50 Singapore electric cars arriving in Sep 2010
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Singapore : Robert Bosch appointed to set up EV charging station infrastructure
