Home-grown solar power company Sunseap Group has set up an electric mobility unit called Charge+, with an aim to install 10,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points here by 2030.
The number is more than one-third of the 28,000 which the Government said Singapore would have by the end of the decade, and could make the company the largest EV charging provider here.
Charge+ chief executive Goh Chee Kiong told The Straits Times that installation will begin in the first quarter of next year at commercial, industrial and residential premises.
Most will be 7.4 kilowatt (kW) alternating current chargers, but there will be some 60kW direct current fast chargers.
"We hope the entire project can be completed by as early as 2025," said Mr Goh, who was previously in charge of SP Group's EV charging business.
He said Charge+ addresses "pain points" in dense cities with space and power supply constraints. Many buildings in Singapore have limited power supply, he noted, but most of these would be able to accommodate 7.4kW chargers without major infrastructural alterations.
Designed in-house, the 7.4kW chargers are "ultra-slim" to fit the smallest carpark spaces in Singapore. At around 150mm, they are less than half the thickness of other chargers used here.
Mr Goh also claimed they are the world's slimmest dual-gun chargers.
The 7.4kW chargers can charge two vehicles at the same time, and can also adjust the available power supply according to the number of vehicles being charged.
Charge+ chairman Ong Tze Boon, an architect who designed the chargers, said they are also durable, weatherproof and connected to the Internet.
IDEAL FOR SINGAPORE
It is a plug-and-play unit which does not need a special shelter or a housing... It is designed by Singapore for the Singapore market.
'' CHARGE+ CHAIRMAN ONG TZE BOON, an architect who designed the electric vehicle chargers.
Unlike other chargers here which are made of plastic, these are made of pressed steel, Mr Ong said. "It is a plug-and-play unit which does not need a special shelter or a housing."
He added: "It is designed by Singapore for the Singapore market."
The chargers will be manufactured in China, and are expected to cost below $2,000 each, making them more competitively priced than most other chargers here.
Sunseap chief executive Frank Phuan said Charge+ gels with the group's focus on renewable energy.
He said Sunseap has installed solar panels at close to 4,000 locations here, and it would be feasible for EV chargers at these sites to be partly or fully powered by the sun.
This would help address a frequent concern that EVs are not actually carbon-free, Mr Phuan added.
Mr Goh said Charge+ will market its product in the region, where many dense cities face similar constraints as Singapore.
"We have pan-Asian ambitions."
© 2020 Singapore Press Holdings
This article was written by Christopher Tan from The Straits Times and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
