City Energy unveils cross-border EV charging service in Singapore and Malaysia

A NEW cross-border electric vehicle (EV) charging service, Go by City Energy (Go), will offer cross-border operational services between Singapore and Malaysia that can be tapped on with the Go mobile application.

It will see a S$100 million investment, with charging points in private residential and commercial sites by 2030, the piped town gas provider City Energy announced during the launch of Go on Tuesday (Apr 19). 

“Go is the first operator to offer a seamless cross border EV charging connectivity into Malaysia. With the opening of Singapore-Malaysia land borders, EV owners wishing to drive to Malaysia will be able to do so, eradicating the issue of range anxiety,” said Perry Ong, chief executive of City Energy. 

During the launch, Go signed an agreement with Malaysian company EV Connection, formalising its strategic partnership. This allows EV drivers to access the charging services on both sides of the causeway as well as the 14 charger locations on the North-South Highway in Malaysia from Apr 19. 

Another 50 DC chargers will be added under the JomCharge network owned by EV Connection by the end of this year, said Lee Yuen How, founder of EV Connection and managing director of JomCharge.

“Most of it will be located at the North-South highway and also at the east coast side. So if you travel from Singapore all the way to Kuantan or Genting on the east coast of Malaysia, you can actually reach them with a few more chargers located at those stations,” he added.

Go will finance, operate and maintain a network of EV charging stations without passing on any form of capital expenditure or operating expenditure on property owners, Ong noted.

The residential development Parc Botannia, owned by Sing Holdings, is the first of Go’s charging installations in Singapore, which consists of 4 standard AC and 1 fast-charging DC EV chargers - allowing up to 5 EVs to charge at any one point in time.

“The EV charging services provided by Go for both projects are essential solutions for the next generation of Singapore living,” said Lee Sze Hao, chief executive of Sing Holdings. 

AC charging, priced at S$0.51 per kilowatt-hour typically takes about 4 to 6 hours for a full charge, while DC charging, at S$0.55, takes about 30 minutes for a full charge.

Go charger installations have been confirmed at another 11 private housing estates including Olloi in Marine Parade by May 2022, Jadescape in Marymount by July 2022, and Parc Komo in Changi by Q1 2023, among others. 

The current plan will see at least a hundred Go chargers in Singapore within the next decade, Ong said in response to queries raised by The Business Times.

As Singapore moves towards phasing out internal combustion engine vehicles and adopting low emission vehicles fully by 2040, there will be increased demand for EV chargers, he noted.

City Energy is committed to installing one-fifth of the EV charging units to car park ratio of the facilities it is in - meaning if a car park requires 900 EV charging units, City Energy will install at least 180 of those, Ong added.

Go is also one of the qualified Land Transport Authority (LTA) smart charger operators which will facilitate property developers to qualify for LTA’s EV Common Charger Grant (ECCG) grants.