With the push for the use of “greener” electronic vehicles worldwide, new key adjustments are being explored by the government in coordination with key stakeholders to help the country ease into this transition.
As these vehicles will depend on electricity as its fuel, speculations as to how this will be met sustainably in a country such as Singapore where traffic congestion is very much still a major problem nowadays. Nevertheless, efforts are being demonstrated to address the market issues of the near-future, as an alternative to public transportation.
SP Rolls Out 38 High-Speed Charging Points Across the Island
Energy provider SP Group has launched the service of its first batch of electric vehicle charging points, in time for ride-hailing company Grab to adopt a fleet of electric cars to ply the city, as shared in a report by the Straits Times.
A total of 38 high–speed charging points – 19 43kW alternate current (AC) chargers and 19 50kW direct current (DC) chargers, are capable of powering up a mid-sized electric car within an hour, compared with six to eight hours via household chargers.
In a statement shared by SP Group last January 9 (Wednesday), the charging points are strategically located at eight locations across the island, near food centres to allow drivers to have a break while their units are being charged up.
The said batch of charging points rolled out by the energy company is among the 1,000 in total which SP targets to establish by 2020.
Furthermore, users can locate and access available charging points visa the SP app, which is available for download both from the iTunes App Store and Google Play.
The app offers a feature which notifies users once charging is complete, as well as payment facilities via DBS and POSB cards. According to SP, cards from major banks will be included soon.
With the expected rise in the use of electric cars soon, more charging points will be required in order to fully accommodate the expected transition in transportation modes in the city.