SP Group announces first major location partner for electric vehicle charging network

Toh Ting Wei Straits Times 21 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE - Energy provider SP Group has partnered with Ascendas-Singbridge Group (ASB) to install electric vehicle charging points in the latter's buildings, the two companies announced on Monday (Jan 21).

As part of the partnership, 24 high-speed chargers have been installed in six of ASB's buildings - Hyflux Innovation Centre, Corporation Place, Techlink, Techplace I, The Capricorn and The Kendall.

Half of the charging points are 43kW alternate current (AC) chargers and the other half comprises 50kW direct current (DC) chargers.

These can power up a mid-sized electric car within an hour, compared with six to eight hours via household chargers.

At an event announcing the partnership at Hyflux Innovation Centre, SP Group chief executive Wong Kim Yin said: "(The partnership) provides more convenient locations for our charging services, and will accelerate the adoption of green mobility in Singapore.

"We look forward to working with ASB to roll out more high-speed charging points in their properties in the months ahead."

ASB said it has plans to install more electric vehicle charging points in its buildings, such as at Infinite Studios in Mediapolis and 5 Science Park Drive, by the end of the year.

The chargers at ASB's properties are part of SP's first batch of 38 charging points, which was announced earlier in January.

The other 14 charging points are located at Singapore Polytechnic and Alexandra Technopark.

They are the first of 1,000 charging points SP aims to launch by 2020.

Users can locate and access available charging points via the SP app, which can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

Currently, rates are 41.4 cents and 47.3 cents per kWh for its AC and DC chargers respectively.

At these rates, SP has said electric car drivers will see "at least 50 per cent cost savings" compared with those who drive comparable petrol-powered models.

More partnerships are likely to be in the works.

SP Group head of strategic development Goh Chee Kiong said: "We are talking to a big number of premise owners.

"We are hopeful that more will be signing up soon."

SP's Mr Wong said the partnership could be a step forward in Singapore becoming the first city in the world with predominantly electric vehicles.

He said: "We don't have all the range issues overseas, and we can be very quick in deploying infrastructure that will serve everybody, compared to any other country or city."

He told The Straits Times that SP is also on the lookout for opportunities to deploy its electric vehicle charging systems overseas.

He added: "If there are opportunities to do the same (implement electric vehicle charging solutions) overseas, we would, of course, take the opportunity."