Singapore passes Bill to regulate safety, accessibility and reliability of electric vehicle charging network

The Government on Wednesday (Nov 30) passed the Electric Vehicles Charging Bill 2022 to regulate the accessibility, reliability and safe use of Electric Vehicles (EV). 

Speaking in Parliament, Minister for Transport S Iswaran highlighted Singapore’s aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. He stressed the electrification of Singapore’s vehicle population as the key effort. 

“Our vision is for all vehicles in Singapore to run on cleaner energy by 2040,” he said.

The Ministry of Transport and LTA also sought public feedback on the Bill earlier this year. More than 70 members of the public and industry players responded and were generally supportive of the provisions that have been proposed, said Mr Iswaran. 

Under the Bill, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be granted new statutory powers to administer and enforce a “comprehensive regulatory regime.” The Bill covers the reliability, accessibility and safe use of EV chargers.

Owners of EV Chargers must register their chargers with LTA, and will bear the responsibility of ensuring it is properly maintained and periodically inspected by a qualified person.

The chargers must also be certified as fit for EVs by “qualified persons” including Licensed Electrical Workers and charging equipment specialists, and its installation overseen by Licensed Electrical Workers. 

To promote accessibility of the EV charging network and with more vehicles going electric, all carparks will need to provide for EV charging.

The Bill will require developers to install electrical infrastructure that supports at least 1.3 kilo-volt amperes of power for every car and motorcycle parking lot in the development.

They must also install a minimum number of charging points which would draw at least one-fifth of that amount of power.

Depending on the developers, charging points may vary in quantity and power. 

Mr Iswaran said: “Some developers may opt to have more charging lots installed with lower-powered chargers, while others may have fewer lots installed with higher-powered chargers.

“So, there is a trade off because for a given electrical capacity, if you choose to have more high-powered chargers, then you will have fewer charging stations and vice versa.”

EV charging operators must also obtain a licence, which will be valid for three years and is renewable, according to the Bill. 

Licensing conditions will include the purchase of public liability insurance, and correcting EV charging service downtime issues within a specified duration. 

Given the “focus on commercial EV charging operators”, only EV charging operators that provide charging services to the public will be required to obtain a licence. This is subject to expansion in accordance with future needs.

Mr Iswaran also mentioned the deployment of 60,000 charging points by 2030 to encourage the EV transition. 

This is one of several other goals surrounding electric vehicles previously mentioned in the Singapore Green Plan 2030, which also includes the lowering of additional registration fees for EVs to zero from Jan 2022 to Dec 2023.

“This Electric Vehicles Charging Bill is an important foundation and first step. It is a milestone in Singapore’s quest for a sustainable land transport system, and in our journey towards net zero emissions by 2050,” he said.