Over 40% increase in EV charging points at HDB car parks since 2023; installation in condos lagging
In the first half of the year, almost a third of new car registrations were for electric cars.
An electric vehicle (EV) charging station. (Photo: TODAY/Raj Nadarajan)
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SINGAPORE: Electric vehicle (EV) charging points have been installed in about half of all HDB car parks, or about 1,000 such car parks, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Monday (Aug 5).
This is about a 42 per cent increase from the "slightly more than 700" HDB car parks with EV charging points as of end-2023.
However, installation of EV charging points at non-landed private residences such as condominiums are still lagging behind, with the authorities aiming for 20 per cent of such car parks to be equipped with charging points by the end of this year.
One condo management chairman said that convincing residents to foot the extra cost for EV chargers that benefit only a select few users has been the main challenge.
Nevertheless, LTA said that the EV charging infrastructure is still “expanding steadily”, with around 13,800 registered EV charging points installed islandwide to date.
This is an almost four-fold increase from the over 3,600 charging points that had been installed at the end of 2022. In 2020, there were just 1,600 charging points.
Under the Singapore Green Plan, the authorities are aiming by 2030 to have all new car and taxi registrations to be of cleaner energy models, and for 60,000 charging points to be deployed nationwide.
LTA reiterated it is on track for all HDB towns to have EV charging points by the end of next year. They will be deployed by EV-Electric Charging Pte Ltd (EVe), a subsidiary under LTA.
OBSTACLES IN INSTALLING EV CHARGERS IN PRIVATE ESTATES
According to Mr Ang Chee Siong, the management council chairman of The Quintet condominium in Choa Chu Kang, it was challenging convincing residents to foot the extra cost for the chargers, as only a small proportion of residents use EVs.
“(If) you’re using the whole condo’s resources to support less than 1 to 2 per cent of the residents ... it’s not really that sound a decision,” said Mr Ang.
He said that currently, only about 3 per cent of his condo residents drive EVs.
He said that the condo management spent a year researching the topic to find a solution that will satisfy all residents.
They eventually found two solutions to the cost issue - by using a “zero-cost installation” service for the chargers, and also tapping on LTA’s EV Common Charger Grant.
The grant will co-fund 50 per cent of the cost components of 2,000 smart chargers, or until December next year, whichever is earlier.
Mr Ang said that the grant has been “a very good help” in convincing condo residents that the cost of the charger installation will be a small one.
It also moved the needle in convincing over 90 per cent of the residents to pass a resolution for the chargers to be installed.
Six EV chargers were rolled out at the condo in January.
LTA said that with co-funding support from its EV Common Charger Grant, it has co-funded more than 1,200 chargers, including the ones at The Quintet.
It added that by the end of this year, it is estimated that one in five non-landed private residences in Singapore, such as condos, will be equipped with EV charging points.
Speaking to reporters at The Quintet, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said that to better support EV charger installation plans at condos, a regulation change had kicked in late 2023.
It lowered the voting threshold for the installation of EV chargers in condos to 50 per cent of residents, down from 90 per cent.
“We think that the take-up rate is likely to increase because the feedback previously was that it was a little bit difficult to hit the higher resolution threshold,” said Dr Khor.
The growth in the number of charging points serves to keep up with the corresponding growth in the number of EVs, in order to sustain the “momentum of our transition to cleaner energy vehicles”, said LTA.
In the first half of 2024, new electric car registrations accounted for almost a third of all new car registrations, compared to around 18 per cent for the whole of 2023 and 12 per cent in 2022.
To date, about 18,000 cars, or 2.7 per cent of Singapore’s total car population, are electric.
Dr Khor added that more than 80 per cent of all new car registrations in the first half of this year were cleaner energy models, which also includes hybrid vehicles.
LTA said it will also waive the registration fees for chargers used for educational and research purposes.
“This will facilitate innovation and skills upgrading for the sector and is targeted to be in effect by the fourth quarter of 2024,” said LTA.
This follows the recent announcement that LTA will be waiving registration fees for chargers used for short-term purposes of up to two months.
