"Singapore plans to further reduce our emissions intensity as part of international efforts to address climate change.

 

For a very small country with limited alternative energy options, the stabilisation of our emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030 requires serious efforts by everyone."

To promote awareness of Electric Vehicles (EVs) to the general public, and to encourage its adoption amongst private vehicle owners and business communities in Singapore.

To create a platform for knowledge exchange and/or collaboration between individuals, businesses and institutions for all EV-related issues like standardisation, research & development, manufacturing and business capabilities.

To partner with government agencies in the creation, implementation and review of legislations, policies and/or roadmaps that will promote the use of EVs in Singapore.

1. To promote the usage of EVs in Singapore
2. To create a platform for knowledge exchange and industry development
3. To provide SG government with industry and perspectives & recommendations on policies that will impact the use of EVs

EVs are superior to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in terms of technology, sustainability, and operational costing. With rapid advancement and cost reductions in battery manufacturing technology , it is also very likely that EVs will become cheaper to manufacture than ICE vehicles within the next ten years.

A summarised list of advantages that EVs have over ICE vehicles is as follows:

• Environmental: EVs have zero tail-pipe emissions (i.e. CO₂, SO₂, NO, HC and PM2.5). Mass EV adoption is necessary in our transition towards a low-carbon economy and towards meeting our COP21 commitments.
   
• Efficiency: EVs are more carbon-efficient given that SG power generation is largely derived from natural gas, which is the cleanest form of fossil fuel. Increasing the amount of renewable energy in SG will further improve carbon-efficiency of EVs.
   
• Operational costing: EVs cost much lesser to operate (since electricity is much cheaper than fuel per distance travelled) and are much cheaper to maintain (since there are much lesser moving parts in an EV than an ICE).
   
• Economic resilience: EVs reduce SG reliance on imported crude oil and improves our resilience to unpredictable oil-price fluctuations.
   
• Smart Grid: Battery EVs may be integrated with smart grids as an energy storage buffer, potentially improving our overall usage of electricity (charging while there is excess power generated, and providing grid regulation during periods of peak power demand)
   
• Autonomous: EVs may be easily integrated with self-driving technology to form AVs for testing, research, development and deployment.

However, unlike ICE vehicles, EVs require adequate charging infrastructure to be in place before they can be adopted in greater numbers. This requirement will be even more crucial as EVs are evolving from a small, niche segment towards a broader, mass-market acceptance. Charging infrastructure must be future-proofed to prevent unregulated EV charging which may cause electrical grid congestion and overloading.

An association is hence necessary to engage a diverse group of stakeholders like automakers, building owners, utility companies and charging hardware manufacturers to accelerate the deployment of a nation-wide charging infrastructure.

As EV technology is rapidly evolving, the charging infrastructure industry requires safety standardisation to ensure that all EV charging are conducted in a safe & regulated manner. Having a centralised body to promote standardisations & compliance is paramount, especially during the nascent growth of this new sector.

EVAS may also act as a resource centre for EV-related companies to collaborate and form consumer-centric partnerships. An example is in the creation of interoperable EV charging networks that benefit end-users as they are able to charge at any station by being subscribed to a single charging network; instead of being subscribed to multiple networks.

We will also need to raise the awareness of plug-in EVs amongst the general population, and to educate the public on the benefits of driving electric (e.g. VES rebates, fuel savings), the potential pitfalls (e.g. range anxiety, unsuspecting pedestrians, EV charging etiquette), as well as the processes involved to switch over to electric vehicles.

Having a strong corporate representation from relevant stakeholders (e.g. automakers, building owners, utility companies, charging hardware manufacturers, EV-related companies) will ensure that EVAS is able to provide the SG government with key recommendations on policies.

For example, EVAS will solicit for individual and industry feedback with regards to the new Vehicle Emissions Scheme (VES), grid factor calculation, TR-25 standards for EV chargers, EV car-sharing scheme, BCA Green Mark requirements, etc.

All EV owners or active EV users in Singapore are highly encouraged to join because EVAS will ensure that the views & concerns of all members are adequately represented to government agencies. EV-related networking events, technology forums and public exhibitions may be conducted from time to time. Individual members will get preferential rates for these events as compared to non-members.

EVAS will ensure that the views & concerns of all members are adequately represented to government agencies. Being a non-profit and non-partisan organisation, EVAS is well-positioned to ensure that highlighted issues are not solely to the benefit of a few corporations, but to the entire industry as a whole.

Corporations will also get the opportunity to participate in business networking events, technology forums and public exhibitions at preferential rates as compared to non-members.

EVAS was formally registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs Registry of Societies (ROS) in October 2017. There are currently 10 Individual members, including the 4 office bearers (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer).

The first AGM will be conducted by March 2018 in order to formally ratify the Constitution. Corporate members will be solicited starting from April 2018. Please refer to the draft Constitution above for more details.