The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is seeking a consultant to produce an 'electro-mobility' research roadmap. The research roadmap will aid in accessing the benefits of having electric vehicles (EVs), identify lack of technological infrastructure and potential challenges, as well as recommend related policies. It will be funded by the National Research Foundation, and should be completed by the second quarter of 2015.
When quizzed by The Straits Times, an LTA spokesperson revealed the roadmap would aid with the adoption of EVs in the future, although a target has not been set. She also added the success of a new technology depends on the market and LTA will continue to monitor global trends and observe how the market evolves.
According to the local paper, the roadmap has several main objectives. Firstly, it should provide a blueprint to enable EV technologies, concepts and solutions up to the year 2050. Secondly, it should identify the challenges the country would face in building an electro-mobility ecosystem - with reference to the power grid sector, charging infrastructure and consumer acceptance.
Thirdly, the roadmap should address the economic and environmental benefits, and the costs involved in the large scale adoption of EVs. And lastly the roadmap should recommend ways to encourage the use of EVs here.
According to Dr. Park Byung Joon, who heads the Urban Transport Management Programme at SIM University, the move shows that the transport authority is more serious about building large scale infrastructure for EVs here.
However, he believes easy access to electrical charging points is key for EVs to be practical here in addition to cost of the cars, to encourage private car owners to go electric - as current EVs are usually more expensive than those with conventional petrol and diesel engines.
In contrast, Dr. Park feels it is more feasible to implement an EV network for the public transport sector - like buses - similar to Shenzhen, China, where public electric buses and taxis were adopted in 2010.
