After hearing about the petrol price hike in Budget 2021, maybe you’re thinking of getting an electric car.
Obviously, you’ll need to charge your car, but maybe you’re a little concerned over where to find convenient charging stations.
Here’s some good news for you: Caltex will be offering fast-charging stations for electric cars!
This move comes after its rival, Shell, set up charging points at 18 different Shell stations. They offer both 50kW direct current (DC) charging and 43kW alternating current (AC) charging.
The more competition, the merrier, eh?
The four participating Caltex stations are at 3700 Yishun Ring Road, 78 Changi Road, 100 Jurong West Avenue 1 and 130 Dunearn Road according to TODAYonline.
They will be equipped with a 50kW DC fast charger that can charge up an electric vehicle (EV) in 30 minutes, unlike the more common AC chargers which take a few hours.
All three stations will have one DC fast charger each, with the exception of the Changi station, which will have two of such charging points.
The Straits Times also reports that the cost of charging an EV will be 46.63 cents/kWh, compared with 55 cents/kWh at Shell’s charging points.
Singapore Power (SP) and Caltex released a joint statement on Monday (22 Mar), saying that they would “study EV charging usage patterns and behaviour at the stations to refine and enhance accessibility and utilisation, and plan for more charging points and locations.”
Caltex’s charging services will be rolled out by the second quarter of 2021 and will be incorporated into the SP Utilities app. Drivers will be able to find available charging points, receive real-time updates on their charging sessions, and make payment.
The SP Group’s Chief Executive Officer Stanley Huang notes that SP aims to “build Singapore’s largest public EV charging network and expand [their] integrated green mobility solutions”.
Caltex’s Competitor, Shell
Shell was the first fuel retailer in Singapore to offer EV charging stations back in 2019.
They conducted a poll in July 2019, finding that one-quarter of the 1000 respondents were open to buying an electric car in the next 24 months, even as half of them felt that it was impossible to own one if they lived in a high-rise due to the lack of access to a charging station.
This led the company to install the 50kW DC chargers at their service stations.
As reported by CNA, Shell plans to install charging points at half of its 57 stations by the end of 2021.
They will also be piloting a new EV charging programme at three locations—Tampines, Pasir Ris and Lakeview—next year. Instead of using an electricity grid as the energy source, the new chargers will use solar power, stored solar power and an electricity grid.
Charging speeds are also expected to be three times faster, depending on the car and battery model.
Feature Image: TK Kurikawa / Shutterstock.com
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