Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Land Transport Authority have issued a pilot tender to set up charging stations for electric vehicles (EV) at public car parks in the city-state.

The last date for the submission of bids is March 12, 2021.

The scope of work includes the installation and operation of over 600 EV charging stations at more than 200 public car parks located at public housing estates, community centers, industrial estate, and public parks across the country. Successful bidders have to set up EV charging stations at their allocated car parks by the third quarter of 2022.

Data and insights acquired from the pilot tender will be utilized to outline the design and phasing of future tenders. These tenders will be issued in phases over the coming years.

Lim Eng Hwee, Chief Executive Officer of URA, said, “Bringing charging points to more public car parks island-wide will provide drivers with greater convenience and accessibility, making EVs a more attractive option.”

The Ministry of Transport and the Land Transport Authority are ramping up the EV charging infrastructure through a national EV charging deployment plan. The plan is in line with the government’s objective to run all vehicles on clean energy by 2040.

Earlier this year, the Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung, replying to a question in the parliament, had said that the government plans to increase the number of EV charging stations in the country from the current 1,700 to 28,000 by 2030. The 28,000 charging stations would be in government-related locations, with two-thirds will be located in the Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates spread throughout Singapore. The Land Transport Authority is conducting a study with HDB and found that out of 1,200 HDB carparks, 400 can readily support overnight EV charging, while the other 800 will need some upgrading of the switch room or substation. The other charging points will be installed in government-owned carparks, such as at offices or by the roadside.

Ng Lang, Chief Executive of the Land Transport Authority, said the wider adoption of EVs, which are quieter and have no tailpipe emissions, will yield significant environmental benefits and improve liveability for all citizens.

“Coupled with incentives such as the EV early adoption incentive and the recently enhanced Vehicular Emission scheme, the increased availability of charging points will help to encourage more vehicle owners to choose EVs,” he added.

According to a  report issued by the International Energy Agency, the number of electric cars globally is expected to touch almost 10 million in 2020, with the sales growth despite the coronavirus pandemic. The infrastructure for electric vehicle charging continues to increase as well, the report noted. In 2019, there were about 7.3 million EV charging stations worldwide, of which about 6.5 million were private, light-duty vehicle slow chargers in homes, multi-dwelling buildings, and workplaces.