Two-thirds of 28,000 electric vehicle charging points to be in HDB car parks

SINGAPORE: About two-thirds of the 28,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points to be available by 2030 will be in Housing Development Board (HDB) car parks across Singapore, said Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung. The 28,000 charging points are all in “government-related locations”, said Mr Ong, and does not include privately installed charging points such as those at shopping centres. There are currently 1,700 EV charging points, said Mr Ong in a written parliamentary reply to Bukit Batok Member of Parliament Murali Pillai, who asked for an update on the Government's plans to provide 28,000 EV charging points by 2030.

He added that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is conducting a study with HDB, and found that of the 1,200 HDB car parks checked so far, 400 can readily support overnight EV charging, while 800 will need some upgrading of the switch room or substation. 

Singapore is ramping up the installation of EV charging points, as part of plans to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040. Mr Ong said that the 28,000 charging points may not be able to support the expected growth in the number of EVs over the next decade. “If we assume EVs are one-third of all private cars by 2030, that works out to about eight cars per charging point, which is not ideal,” he said. “LTA is therefore reviewing the current plan with other agencies, including incorporating the significant effort of commercial entities to build up the EV charging infrastructure, with a view to bring down the EV per charging point ratio,” he said, adding this would better support EV growth in Singapore. More details will be announced when ready, he said.

Last month, local firm Charge+, a subsidiary of solar energy solutions provider Sunseap, announced plans to install 10,000 EV charging points over the next decade. Singapore’s electric car population currently stands at 1,190, or about 0.2 per cent of the 630,018 cars registered here, according to LTA figures. South Korean carmaker Hyundai announced on Tuesday the setting up of a new facility in Singapore, which could produce up to 30,000 electric vehicles here by 2025.