Two S'pore firms to test mobile charging service for EVs until 2028

2 others get permits to test battery charging and swopping for electric heavy vehicles

- Lee Nian Tjoe

Two Singapore companies offering mobile charging for electric vehicles (EVs) have been given the green light to do so for four years, as part of trials.

With the go-ahead from the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Power-Up Tech will be allowed to deploy up to 10 mobile charging systems to juice up EVs, including vans and buses.

Beecharge Innovation Group will dispatch up to eight sets of mobile charging systems to support providers of shared EVs and commercial fleet operators.

These companies have power packs and EV chargers that are loaded onto vehicles, allowing them to offer on-demand charging services to EV drivers with no convenient access to a permanent charger.

The LTA in a statement on June 11 said it issued permits to two other outfits to test battery charging and swopping systems for electric heavy goods vehicles over four years.

All four trials will start gradually in the second half of 2024.

Power-Up began offering its mobile charging service in April 2022. Without LTA’s approval for the four-year trial, its service could not continue operating after June 7.

This follows a provision in the law governing EV charging that took effect on Dec 8, 2023, giving mobile charging operators that existed before six months to continue operating.

In its current form, the national charging standard – called Technical Reference 25 (TR 25) – does not cover mobile chargers, which dispense electricity from an energy storage system without having to be plugged into an electrical installation.

In response to The Straits Times, an LTA spokesperson said this means mobile chargers cannot be approved under the technical standard, which was established in 2010 to set out technical safety requirements for EV charging systems here.