Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in parliament yesterday (May 9) that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Economic Development Board had earlier issued a Request for Information (RFI) to invite proposals for such a programme. He revealed that the programme would see 2,000 charging points “across Singapore”, but gave no indication of when it would be launched, saying only that “the proposals are in the final stages of evaluation”.

According to the RFI, up to 20 per cent of the 2,000 points may be accessible to non-participants of the car-sharing scheme.

Terence Siew, product manager at home-grown charging solutions firm Greenlots, said 2,000 points for a planned fleet of 1,000 cars was “a good ratio to start with”.

“But more importantly, the government should make clear what type of charging point it wants.”

There are currently two main types – one for American and Japanese vehicles, and one for European.

Today, there are over 100 charging points in commercial and residential buildings as well as in public spaces. But only half are switched on. Siew said this could be because building owners find there is insufficient demand.

According to LTA data, there are only about 120 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles here.

To a question from Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon representative) on whether Tesla’s new Model 3 would qualify for tax incentives here, Khaw said the Model 3 was launched in the United States on March 31, but “only a prototype was displayed”.

“When it is ready to be sold in Singapore, importers will submit its electrical energy consumption information for LTA to assess if it will attract a rebate or a surcharge,” he said. “If it is as energy-efficient as a new Tesla S, a new Tesla 3 car would be entitled to the maximum rebate under our current CEVS (Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme).”

The CEVS, Khaw said, is “outcome-based and neutral with respect to the type of technology”.

Sun Xueling (Pasir Ris-Punggol representative) asked the minister if the government would consider using electric vehicles for public transport, citing London’s launch of a fleet of battery-powered double- decker buses in March.

Yes, Khaw said, adding: “We will try to make use of all this new technology.”