As Singapore’s EV uptake soars, drivers and experts say it’s not how many chargers, but where and what kind

Some MPs have made the same point. “It is not just about having sufficient charging points, but also whether there is sufficient infrastructure to support actual user behaviour and charging patterns,” said MP Ng Shi Xuan.

The Sembawang GRC MP had asked in parliament this month for data on charger utilisation rates at public car parks. Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said in a written reply that the average rate at HDB car parks is about 20 per cent, with higher rates in Tengah, Punggol and Sengkang.

Workers’ Party MP He Ting Ru also filed a parliamentary question this month on the number of HDB car parks without EV chargers. Mr Siow said 139, or 7 per cent of HDB car parks, are without chargers due to technical constraints such as insufficient power supply or community requests to delay installation.

Ms He told CNA she was prompted by residents who had raised concerns about charging access after buying an EV. While those without chargers at their HDB car park can transfer their season parking to a nearby car park with chargers at the same rate, the Sengkang GRC MP said this may not always work for residents whose daily routines are built around a specific car park.

Ms Poh said planners need to account for charger type and how EV owners actually use their cars – where they drive most frequently and how long they typically dwell. 

If most EV owners prefer fast chargers at malls and office car parks over slower HDB alternatives, “from a nationwide EV charger infrastructure network point of view, it is more cost-effective to build more fast chargers at office car parks and shopping malls”, she said.

Drivers on the ground echo the call for better-targeted infrastructure. BYD Atto 3 owner Ng Lay Peng, 37, said chargers in her Bidadari estate are almost always full at night. “Three lots for our entire estate is quite challenging,” she said, noting that older estates tend to have more charging points but fewer EV owners. 

“The number of chargers in residential estates needs to make sense and should probably be informed based on the number of EVs registered through season parking.”

Professional emcee Alex Tan, 41, faces the same problem at his Sengkang HDB car park, where three slow chargers serve his block and are sometimes all taken. When the battery for his BYD Seal Dynamic dips to 10 per cent, he makes the trip to a nearby mall, where fast and slow chargers are usually available.

For now, it amounts to “little frustrations”, but as the EV population grows, the wait “will become more real”, said SUSS’ Assoc Prof Kwan.