SIEW 2009: Plug-In Singapore 2009

Plug-In Singapore 2009 was held recently as part of the Singapore International Energy Week 2009. The conference and expo is organised by the Cleantech Agency and brings together the market players to discuss key electric vehicle issues.

Opening Speech

During the conference, David Tan, Deputy Chief Executive, Energy Market Authority, gave a speech on the Electrification of Singapore’s Land Transport. He highlighted the current global interest in Electric Vehicles (EVs) and that the use of EVs are expected to pick up from 2015 onwards and become fully commercially viable for the mass market after 2020. Even in an alternative energy disadvantaged country like Singapore, we can reduce up to 4% of our land transport sector’s carbon emissions by 2020 with just a 2% EV penetration rate.

To prepare for such a future, Singapore has embarked on a S$20 million EV test-bedding programme, launched in May to provide an open platform for all auto manufacturers and technology companies to examine the infrastructure requirements of an EV system, to test the performance of EVs under local road conditions and in the tropical environment, and to identify related industry and R&D opportunities.

This test-bed will start next year and run for three years, driven by a multi-agency Taskforce, co-chaired by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA). As part of the deployment plan for the EV test-bed project, the EV Taskforce has been working with Renault-Nissan, Mitsubishi and other auto manufacturers to secure a supply of EVs for Singapore.

Mitsubishi plans to roll out its i-MiEV model of electric cars next year. So the Taskforce is expecting 50 i-MiEVs to arrive from September 2010, which would cost about S$89,000 – S$99,000 each. Renault-Nissan’s EVs will only be available for commercial sale in 2011. The Taskforce is now looking for interested companies to participate in the test-bed and be an early adopter of EVs in Singapore, under the Transport Technology Innovation and Development Scheme (TIDES), jointly administered by LTA and EDB.

Participants will be required to collate data on the performance of the EV such as driving range between charging, ease of charging, annual mileage and total costs of operation. The data collected will be instrumental in evaluating the costs and benefits and overall feasibility of the future adoption of EVs in
Singapore.

The EV Taskforce will also be rolling out a small network of about 50 EV charging stations. A competitive tender will be launched next year to select an EV infrastructure service provider. The EV charging stations will have to be compatible with the EVs produced by the major auto-manufacturers, and the deployment of the stations will be timed to coincide with the actual take-up of EVs under the test-bed.

In addition, EMA, SPRING Singapore and industry partners will be working on a Technical Reference for the public EV charging systems to set minimum standards for the development of EV charging systems and the safe charging of EVs.

Expo

Here are some photos of the exhibitors’ electric vehicles: