Second phase of EV testing could involve bigger fleet and car sharing

According to The Straits Times, sources said government agencies are in talks with participants regarding the second phase of testing, although details are not finalised. When the local paper contacted the Land Transport Authority (LTA), it only revealed future trials could involve car-sharing and commercial vehicle fleets.

The trials that started back in mid-2011 were to measure the feasibility of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in Singapore and now includes 89 EVs and 61 charging stations. In the next phase, several hundred to 1,000 EVs could be taking part, although it is unclear if public participation is involved.

Currently only company registered cars, institutes of higher learning and government agencies are included in the trials conducted by a multi-agency task force - led by the Energy Market Authority and LTA.

The cars are exempt from Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums and other car taxes.

The English daily added, with reference to the data collected, EVs here can perform with a maximum range of 115km in a single charge - with an average driving distance of 41km. In comparison, a conventional powered car records an average driving distance of 55km.

While observers agree EVs are cleaner and more energy efficient, they cited two major drawbacks - high cost of ownership and the lack of infrastructure, mainly charging spots.

A LTA spokesperson acknowledged that EVs have 'significantly higher' upfront costs, and went on to agree the overall cost of ownership and driving an EV here are likely to be higher than a normal powered vehicle. "Nevertheless, with improved battery technology and economies of scale, EVs could become cheaper over time," she concluded.

Mr Thomas Jakob, Managing Director of Bosch Asia Pacific, the firm which manages the trial's charging infrastructure, explained opening the second trial phase to car-sharing groups is logical as the high costs will be spread over a bigger group.

He also added the Government needs to take a more proactive approach to support EVs or it could probably take till 2025 before EVs become make up the mainstream market.

Mr Tom Lokenvitz, the founder of Clean Mobility Singapore and electric car-sharing scheme Smove, suggested taxes and COE premiums for EVs should be lowered - as the $20,000 rebate from the Carbon Emissions based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) does too little to offset the high costs of an EV.

Another issue was raised by Mr Haider Rashid, Region President of South Asia for power technology group ABB, the lack of charging ports. Still he acknowledged currently, it is a 'chicken and egg' situation because more cars need to be on the road to make installation of charging ports worthwhile.