Volt Singapore, a unit of Singaporean asset manager Keppel, will build an electric vehicle fast-charging hub in the city-state to serve both commercial and passenger cars, the company announced Monday (8 Jul).

Hosting up to 80 charging points for buses, taxis, privately owned cars and other EVs, the new hub will be the largest public fast-charging facility at a single site in Southeast Asia, the company said.

According to the announcement, Volt was awarded a contract to deploy and operate the EV charging hub for up to 15 years by a company under Singapore’s largest taxi operator, ComfortDelGro, which also owns the city-state’s biggest public bus operator, SBS Transit.

The companies did not disclose the value of the contract.

The first phase is expected to be operational in the first half of 2026. The new hub in western Singapore will have charging points with 360 kilowatt and 120 kW ratings, with charging times for electric cars as fast as 10 minutes, Volt said.

The project comes as Singapore seeks to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040. EVs accounted for about one in three new cars registered in the city-state from January to May, nearly double the 2023 figure of 18.1%, according to the government.

“Volt looks forward to supporting the transition to EVs, especially for commercial fleets and electric buses to reduce emissions, promoting sustainable transportation,” Volt Executive Director Lim Yong Wei said in a statement.

Volt is a joint venture between Keppel Infrastructure and Wanbang Digital Energy, one of the largest EV charging point suppliers and operators in China. Last month, the company also won a contract with a subsidiary of the Land Transport Authority to deploy public fast-charging points across the city-state.

Singapore has also been pushing for greener mobility in commercial transport. By 2030, ComfortDelGro is aiming to transition 90% of its car fleet and 50% of its buses to cleaner energy vehicles, including fully electric and hybrid models.

Meanwhile, Singapore-based Grab has pledged to replace its ride-hailing fleet in the city-state with low-emission vehicles by 2030, as part of its effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.

The number of EV chargers in Singapore is expected to reach 60,000 by 2030 from over 7,100 charging points today.
 

A version of this article was first published by Nikkei Asia on Jul 8 2024.
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