Private transport firm to roll out electric taxi fleet in Singapore from September

HDT Singapore Taxi will launch a fleet of 100 fully-electric taxis in Singapore as part of an e-taxi trial by the first quarter of next year.

The fleet of 100 e6 electric saloon cars is provided by electric vehicle manufacturer BYD.

Private transport firm HDT plans to begin operating its taxi service starting in the first week of September, with all 100 e-taxis to be progressively deployed by the first quarter of 2017, it said in a release on Monday.

HDT's e-taxi trial is part of Singapore's EV Phase 2 Test-bed co-led by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Economic Development Board (EDB), to explore fleet-based operations such as EV (electric vehicle) car-sharing and electric taxi fleets.

HDT's e-taxi service, which will operate for eight years, will allow the LTA and the EDB to study whether new EV business models are feasible here.