Singapore to trial EV battery charging, swapping system

Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) has approved four "sandbox trials" for electric vehicle (EV) battery charging and swapping system, as Singapore mulls including these technologies in its EV charging standard.

The four approvals — which are for heavy good EVs and mobile charging systems — were awarded to domestic firms Power-Up Tech, Beecharge Innovation, a consortium that includes Strides Frontiers and Ecoswift, as well as Singapore port authority PSA. The trials will go on for four years and they will "gradually commence" in the second half of 2024, said LTA on 11 June.

"These trials will allow LTA to better understand the technical and operational requirements of such technologies and to consider incorporating them in upcoming Technical Reference 25 (TR25) reviews," said LTA. The country in 2022 updated its EV charging standard — also known as the TR25 — after a review, which included battery swapping standards for electric motorcycles among others.

PSA will deploy one battery charging and swapping station within its Pasir Panjang port terminal for its electric heavy good vehicles, while the consortium will set up a station at Tuas. Power-Up Tech and Beecharge will provide mobile charging equipment for heavier EVs such as vans, trucks and buses. In mobile charging, equipment is transported to EVs that require immediate charging services.

Singapore last year issued a tender to buy around 400 electric buses to replace its diesel buses starting from December, when they reach their end of life. It later announced that it will buy 360 units in two contracts for a total of S$166.4mn ($123mn). Top EV manufacturer BYD won the contract for 240 electric buses, with the contract for the remaining 120 units going to regional firm Cycle and Carriage Automotive.

The country has introduced multiple incentives to accelerate its transition to "cleaner-energy vehicles", including its EV Early Adoption Incentives (EEAI), which has been extended to the end of 2025. Under EEAI, newly registered fully-electric cars and taxis will receive 45pc of rebate off their Additional Registration Fee, a registration tax, that will be capped at S$15,000.

The nation state has a target of having 60,000 EV charging points by 2030, with 40,000 in public carparks and 20,000 in private premises, according to LTA. All new domestic harbour craft in Singapore must also be fully electric, capable of using B100 biofuels or net zero fuels such as hydrogen by 2030, said former transport minister S Iswaran last year.

By Joseph Ho