Owners of new fully electric heavy vehicles will receive an incentive of S$40,000 for every vehicle from 2026 onwards.
Electric buses owned by Westpoint Transit.
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19 Mar 2025 10:39AM
SINGAPORE: Private charter bus company Westpoint Transit has four electric heavy vehicles among its fleet of 60, having chosen to go green early in 2019.
This allows it to save about 40 per cent on diesel costs annually.
But going green has its challenges – an electric bus costs between S$90,000 (US$67,000) and S$500,000 before Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices, depending on its size.
So far, the firm has spent about S$900,000 on its electric vehicles.
For this reason, it counts among the industry players that have welcomed the government’s announcement earlier this month.
From next year onwards, owners of new fully electric heavy vehicles will receive an incentive of S$40,000 for every vehicle, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor in her ministry’s Committee of Supply debate on Mar 5.
This sum will be distributed over three years: S$13,000 in each of the first two years, and S$14,000 in the third.
The government will also subsidise charger costs under the new Electric Heavy Vehicle Charger Grant, with owners able to get co-funding of up to S$30,000 per accompanying charger.
These are in line with Singapore’s push to have all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040.
Still, heavy vehicle owners told CNA that they need more charging spots. They also expressed hope for lower charger installation costs for their electric fleets, even with the government’s co-funding.
“PROHIBITIVE” COSTS
Firms that tap the new grant must install the charger at their place of business, with a maximum of three chargers for every company site.
However, Westpoint director Lionel Lee said that the current mode of charging infrastructure in Singapore – direct current fast chargers – is costlier to install. This is due to the requirements to draw higher power from the mean power grid.
“This, for Westpoint at least, is where the bulk of the costs come from,” he added.
“To my knowledge, this can cost anything between S$300,000 to S$500,000 if you have to work with the power grid provider to install and lay the cables for us.”
These costs can become “quite prohibitive” due to the company being a small one, said Mr Lee.
Direct current fast chargers allow for a quicker charging time. For instance, it would take about two-and-a-half hours to charge a medium-sized electric bus, while it would take eight hours to do so using a slow charger.
Having more of such charging spots will impact the planning of the company’s roster, said Mr Lee.
“If I have more of these buses but not as many chargers, that will require me to get the buses in fully charged, and then leaving the charger before the next bus comes in,” he pointed out.
“All of these factors into our rotation of the buses and the bus driver schedules, because they can only charge … after their trips, so that they can then have the bus fully charged and ready for tomorrow.”
On top of that, medium- or large-size electric buses are not able to be charged at Shell petrol stations like small buses, which can utilise passenger EV chargers.
Mr Lee said this reduces the number of charging spots available for drivers.
“Typically, (these charging points) are located in heavy industrial estates, for example in Tuas. When you have to drive that kind of distance at the end of the day, it also adds to the bus drivers’ fatigue level and the schedule that we as a company pay for,” he added.
Because of this, the company does not have large electric buses.
CHARGING WOES
For Teambuild Construction Group, its logistics manager Garry Koh said it is also concerned about the charging network available across the island.
The construction firm, which is mostly involved in Housing and Development Board projects, has about 20 to 30 heavy vehicles but not any fully electric ones.
“Because we don’t have the chargers on (construction sites), our lorries will need to travel in between sites to other sites. So when they need to charge, they have to go back to our warehouse to charge,” Mr Koh said.
“So, for normal chargers, (it) will take around five hours to charge. Within these five hours, our drivers will need to be idle there.”
He also pointed out that electric heavy vehicles cost 20 per cent higher than traditional ones, which would cost around SS$50,000, while a fully-charged vehicle can only run up to 200km – half that of a diesel-fuelled heavy vehicle.
Nevertheless, Mr Koh said there are long-term benefits to going green, such as lower maintenance costs and diesel prices.
The company is now looking to tap the government’s incentives and buy up to five electric heavy vehicles from next year.
