Electric City: Singapore giving electric vehicles a go

Straits Times 11 May 09;

AFTER deliberating for more than 10 years, Singapore has decided to give electric vehicles (EVs) a go. The Government has said it will set aside $20 million for a trial that will put the first EVs on the roads here from next year.

The three-year programme will not only test the robustness of EVs, it will explore how EV owners can sell back unused power to the electricity grid; it will also measure the carbon footprint EVs leave behind. Senior Correspondent Christopher Tan reports

GETTING STARTED: The first electric cars from mainstream manufacturers could arrive by January 2011. Models from Nissan and Renault are likely to be the first, followed by choices from several other major manufacturers after 2012. Those who are picky about design and performance need not fret. Not all electric cars are geeky transport pods that seat only two and max out at 90kmh.

The Tesla Model S (above) is a high-performance saloon that seats five and has a huge boot. It hits 100kmh in under six seconds and covers 480km on a single charge. Right-hand-drive models are expected in two years.

Estimated price: $190,000 on the road before the green rebate.

DRIVING: An electric car operates pretty much like a petrol-powered car, except that, instead of cranking it up, you just switch it on. It is almost silent on the go and when idling, has no gears and is very torquey.

No lubricants are needed, so it is cheaper to run than a conventional car and is practically maintenance free.

A compact model consumes less than $1 in power a day, against around $4 in fuel for a petrol-equivalent car.

KEEP MOVING: Charging points are unlikely to be as commonplace as petrol stations. In countries which have had EVs for over a decade, like France (above) and the United States, street signs point EV owners to the nearest charging stations.

Motorists will also be able to look up where these are online. A Web-based locator will be useful if and when Malaysia jumps on the electric bandwagon. Its national car-maker Proton recently said it is exploring partnerships to start making electric cars as early as the end of this year.

FILLIN' UP: For those living in landed property, charging the car at home will be a cinch. Most users however will rely on public charging points.

A smart card-based access and payment system could be one way of ensuring that these points are secure, safe and tamper-proof.

The user drives into a lot reserved for EVs (below) and taps a card on a reader to open the charging outlet. He either keys in the charge time he wants or selects a 'charge to full' button. He hooks up the car to the point and taps the card to shut the outlet.

GOING GREENER: EVs here will rely on gas-fired power stations for electricity, so they will not - strictly speaking - be 'zero emission'.

However, they will still be a lot more efficient than combustion-engine cars because they are able to convert 90 per cent (or more) of the energy used into motion, compared to less than 40 per cent for fuel-driven cars.

The California Air Resources Board has said that even if 10,000 EVs in California are all plugged in at the same time to recharge, they would take up less than 0.06 per cent of California's total power demand.

Plug in and fill up
Straits Times 11 May 09;

WITH close to 90 per cent of Singapore residents living in high-rises, charging up an electric car will not be as simple as pulling an extension cord out to the driveway.

Facilities for public charging will thus be needed, but setting these up will not be that straightforward.

Several options are on the table, but the one Singapore picks has to be applicable to a wide range of electric vehicles (EVs), including commercial vehicles, two-wheelers and plug-in hybrids.

Mr Anthony Rawlinson, the Singapore-based former chairman of US electric vehicle systems maker Enova, said charging formats are either of the inductive or conductive type.

Inductive chargers, which operate by proximity electromagnetics, are thoroughly weather-proof but costly.

No metal parts are exposed, like the way some electric toothbrushes and shavers are charged. In some systems, the driver does not even have to touch anything. He simply parks near a charging point and the system takes over.

Mr Rawlinson said that there is no need to go with this sophisticated system, since it only has only one real advantage - an aesthetic one.

The conductive method, as the name suggests, requires contact and thus involves plugging in.

Mr Rawlinson said this method is not necessarily less safe, since the car and the charger itself will have circuit breakers and everything is heavily insulated.

'It's almost child-proof,' he said.

Industry observers believe Singapore will go for the conductive method.

But even here, there are two types to choose from - the normal-charge and the quick-charge types.

The former is essentially a regular electrical outlet linked to a secured access and payment system. Estimated to cost less than $10,000 each, a normal-charge system takes six to eight hours to charge an EV fully.

A quick-charge system, costing at least five times more, can juice up a battery-powered car in 20 to 50 minutes. Partial charges can be done in as quickly as five minutes, which will make the vehicle good for about 40 km.

Mr Andre Roy, the group managing director of Wearnes Automotive, which will offer electric cars from 2011, said: 'My feeling is that we'll start with a normal-charging system, then move gradually to quick-charging.'

He foresees operators charging a premium for quick charges, which will mostly be for top-ups which EV owners will purchase for just enough power to get them to a normal charging station.

Normal-charging points are likely to be in sheltered Housing Board carparks, with lots reserved for EV owners.

Mr Roy said these charging points could become 'a revenue source' for restaurants, carpark operators and small businesses.

The Wearnes group has had early talks with HDB on setting up charging points.

Mr Rawlinson said plenty of charging points will be needed - and soon - for EVs to work here.

'You can't start like the CNG exercise, with only one station on Jurong Island. We have only a small window for EVs to take hold before oil jumps back up.'

It was only last year that crude oil hit record levels of close to US$150 a barrel. Prices are now around US$55 a barrel.

To kick-start EVs, Mr Rawlinson suggested that utility companies undertake to build the first charging points and also to provide free charging. He also pointed out that EV fleet owners can trade in the carbon credits earned on their fleets to businesses which need them.

Meanwhile, California-based EV service provider Better Place is advocating battery exchange as an alternative to having a network of charging points.

Its spokesman explained that the company has developed battery-switch stations which mechanically remove exhausted batteries and replace these with new ones - in under a minute.

This week, Better Place will unveil the world's first such exchange in Yokohama, Japan.

CHRISTOPHER TAN

Countries and car makers gearing for change
Straits Times 11 May 09;

NATIONS and car-makers the world over are looking to electric vehicles (EV) as an alternative to the combustion engine.

This latest attempt comes on the back of progress in battery technologies and an expanding charging infrastructure.

Energy groups and about 20 car makers such as Renault and Nissan have been working with the German group RWE to develop a universal standard plug. This can be used with a 400-volt supply enabling a full charge in about 20 minutes.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has begun zero emission vehicle initiatives in Japan's Kanagawa prefecture and Yokohama, as well as in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Monaco, Britain, France, Switzerland, Ireland, China and Hong Kong.

In the United States, the Alliance is looking into developing an EV infrastructure in half a dozen states.

Later this year, the US' Fisker Karma will roll out the world's first plug-in hybrid sports car. It will be powered by lithium-manganese batteries supplied by Vancouver-based Advanced Lithium Power, founded and led by Singapore-born Lim Loong Keng. In China, cellphone battery maker BYD claims to have made a car that can run over 400km on a single charge. It has attracted foreign investors like Mr Warren Buffet, who holds a nearly 10 per cent stake in it, and is in talks to appoint a dealer in Singapore.

California-based EV service provider Better Place has persuaded Australia, California, Hawaii and Canada to commit to setting up EV-charging networks.

Several countries have perks in place to encourage EVs. In the US, buyers get a rebate of up to US$7,500 (S$11,000) each; in Norway, free charging points and exemption of import tax, and India, free parking and no road tax. Recently, Britain set aside £20 million (S$44 million) to build EV charging points and facilities. Buyers will get up to £5,000 in rebates.

Nearer Singapore, in Japan, Tokyo Electric Power will roll out about 200 quick-charge stations by March 2010.

But nothing quite signals the change of tide as Ford Motor's move: It has put US$550 million into retooling a Michigan plant that once produced bulky SUVs to make an all-electric Focus by 2011.

CHRISTOPHER TAN

What green light for electric motoring means
Straits Times 11 May 09;

THE $20 million in government funding to help put electric vehicles on the road beginning next year comes in the wake of important breakthroughs in green automotive technology. Research and development in energy storage has yielded alternatives that are lighter, capable of holding a charge longer and more readily recycled than lead batteries. Electric cars continue to go farther before requiring charging. As they begin to match vehicles running on petrol or diesel in terms of distance as well as utility, they are becoming the more obvious choice for being more energy efficient and thus, environmentally safer.

More so than almost all countries, Singapore is a good fit for them. Commuting distances in the compact city state rarely exceed their range. Electric motors emit almost no pollutant, unlike internal combustion engines which spew fumes that contain carcinogenic and other harmful particulates. Electric cars will transfer their environmental impact to power stations that supply them electrical energy, but the three main electricity generating plants - PowerSeraya, Senoko and Tuas - run mostly on natural gas, which burns more cleanly than does coal or oil. If even cleaner energy options emerge later, it is more practical and economical to retrofit a few power stations than 850,000 petrol or diesel vehicles.

In helping to set up the infrastructure for electrical charging, the Government will need to consider a separate grid or different tariffs. It has to ensure prices will not rise for all consumers as demand increases. With little doubt remaining in the environmental argument for going electric, land transport policy needs to focus on pricing, including the true cost of congestion. How much will electric cars add to traffic jams? The 40 per cent rebate on additional registration fee for 'green' - including electric - vehicles recognises their smaller carbon footprint despite their similar physical size. If electric cars really catch on by 2011 when the rebate ends, the green incentive might become counter-effective.

A more desirable approach would be to favour electric buses and taxis over cars. Greening public transport will kill two birds with one stone: Help to reduce peak-hour gridlock while serving the environmental cause. Singapore has fewer buses per million people than Hong Kong or London, according to the Land Transport Authority. Adding electric buses to the fleet is the way to catch up. These are fast becoming as clean and as energy efficient as lighter electrical vehicles. Electric motoring is getting the green light, but the road ahead must be clear.