After a slow start, the Government-funded plan to put a test fleet of electric cars on the road could finally be plugged in and ready to roll.
The first cars are unlikely to arrive this year as anticipated, but work to build a network of charging stations will start soon.
The Energy Market Authority (EMA) told The Straits Times it will announce by next week the company that clinched the bid to build the infrastructure.
It had received bids ranging from $988,600 to $11.07 million from 11 companies, including Hitachi Asia, Robert Bosch (South-east Asia) and Wearnes Automotive & Equipment.
Work to build the network of up to 63 charging stations is expected to be completed by year end or early next year.
The setting up of this infrastructure is the first concrete step in a multimillion-dollar project to test the robustness and efficiency of electric vehicles here. Little data has been gathered so far on how these cars perform in hot and humid places.
The infrastructure has to be up before the electric cars arrive - something the EMA had expected would happen by the middle of this year when it announced the project in May last year.
Asked how long setting up the charging network would take, a Bosch spokesman said it was difficult to say. ‘A lot depends on the number of charging stations and where they are located,’ he said.
Explaining the delay, an EMA spokesman said: ‘The electric vehicle test-bed is a complex undertaking that brings together multiple interdependent activities. Getting each part right is critical to the overall success of the project.’
She said the appointment of a charging infrastructure provider ‘is only part of the bigger picture’; it has to be done in conjunction with, for example, getting potential users on board and ensuring compliance with international standards, ‘which are still evolving’.
The Straits Times understands Mitsubishi Motors has received confirmed orders for 25 i-MiEV electric cars, down from 50 initially. They are expected to arrive between February and March.
Other manufacturers are keen to be in on the project, but have not received firm orders.
Mr Andre Roy, group managing director of Wearnes’ automotive division, which represents the Renault brand among others, said the company is still working on plans to bring in the electric Renault Fluence ZE.
‘We’ve been in intense discussions with EMA in the past two weeks about terms and conditions,’ he said.
The Government is waiving taxes on electric cars under the Transport Technology Innovation and Development Scheme (Tides). A Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which costs close to $200,000, will be around $90,000 after a tax break under this scheme.
Running it will cost the Government $75 million in tax revenue over six years.
Another $20 million has been set aside for test-bedding the project, which may explain why the EMA is not rushing into it.
‘We are committed to making the test-bed a fruitful exercise,’ its spokesman said.
Electric car advocates applaud Singapore’s move to get these vehicles on the road, but feel more can be done.
Mr Michael Magura, managing director of new-tech consultancy Clean Tech Agency, said: ‘I see an aggressive push for electric vehicles around the world, and I think Singapore needs to be a little more aggressive in moving this forward for consumers.’
He suggested that Tides, now open only to government agencies and corporations, be tweaked to entice ‘early and eager adopters’ of electric cars.
