Singapore residents will be able to zip around the island state by the middle of next year using a fleet of 125 electric vehicles and 250 charging points, the Economic Development Board says.
By 2020, it says drivers will be able to share 1,000 EVs – the world’s second-largest fleet after Paris – and 2,000 charging points across the country.
The board and the Land Transport Authority earlier this year signed an agreement with BlueSG, a unit of Bolloré Group, to operate the 1,000-EV nationwide car-sharing program.
Bolloré is the world’s largest EV car-sharing operator, with operations in Paris, Bordeaux and Lyon in France, Indianapolis in the U.S. and Torino in Italy.
The service is based on subscriptions and cars can be booked via an app. The cost for users is estimated to be less than S$10 ($7.30) for a 15-minute ride.
Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Khaw Boon Wan says this is another step in the country’s plan to promote the use of public transport and car-sharing to reduce pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions.
“The future of transport in Singapore will look very different from today,” he says. “Most people will not see the need to own a car. Today, we have a total fleet of only 300 shared cars and 10,000 users. We hope to see car-sharing usage rise through collaborations.”
BlueSG also will set up a Global Innovation Center and partner with local and foreign companies and research groups to conduct R&D on mobility and energy-management solutions.
They will develop, test and commercialize solutions such as next-generation charging technologies, intelligent transport systems and self-driving vehicles.
Bolloré says its investment will total S$100 million ($73 million).
Board Managing Director Yeoh Keat Chuan says the program will “position Singapore as the regional leader in electric mobility and energy management technologies.
“The program will serve as a living lab platform to attract new players to develop, test and commercialize innovative urban solutions here before scaling up for the region.”
BlueSG will operate the program for 10 years and install an island-wide EV charging infrastructure of 2,000 charging points, up to 20% of them available for public use.
Khaw says after the contract period, the Singapore government will take over the charging points and make all of them available to the public.
