Singapore Government Announces Testbed For EV’s

Singapore is set to introduce electric vehicles into the mainstream market next year. The government has assigned a task-force to oversee the transition of electric vehicles with mainstream traffic, and to research possibilities and challenges of electric vehicles on the roads.

The task-force will be comprised of the Energy Market Authority, the Land Transport Authority, the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, the Economic Development Board, and the National Environment Agency, all of which will work jointly to expand the possibilities for electric vehicles to become a widespread reality in Singapore.

The government released a press statement earlier this year explaining their reasoning for testing out electric vehicles by using a task-force with multiple agencies, the release said the aim was to “to examine infrastructure requirements and new business models arising from EVs, as well as to identify industry and R&D opportunities.”

The Singapore government will provide $20 million in funding for the proposed project which will begin next year. Several energy companies have signed up to participate in the test bed via a memorandum of understanding, including Renault-Nissan and Keppel Energy. Renault-Nissan will be supplying the electric vehicles for the test bed and Keppel Energy will be responsible for developing adequate charging stations.

Chief Executive of the Energy Market Authority in Singapore, Lawrence Wong, said that, “Electric vehicles are an exciting new area for both the energy and transport sectors. Singapore is well-positioned for the deployment of EVs because of our compact urban environment, and robust electrical grid and IT infrastructure. The test bed will provide an open platform for companies to test out different EV prototypes and charging technologies.”

So far the testbed is scheduled to begin in 2010 and last until 2012. 

Thanks to cleantechnica.com for the above quotes, for more information on this story please view their website.