TR 25:2022 – the new charging standards that will change the entire EV landscape in Singapore

By leowjulen, 04 March 2022
Polestar 2 - Volvo's EV spinoff
Polestar 2 - Volvo's EV spinoff

TR 25:2022 – the new charging standards that will change the entire EV landscape in Singapore

SINGAPORE — New charging standards are on the way, and they could unlock big changes to the electric vehicle (EV) landscape.

The Land Transport Authority announced Tuesday that the current regulations that cover EV charging, which date back six years, are being updated to “support… the national effort to expand Singapore’s EV charging network”.

Polestar 2 - an EV from Volvo spinoff
Polestar 2 - an EV from Volvo spinoff

To review the relevant Technical Reference 25 (TR 25), the Singapore Standards Council appointed a Working Group comprising the LTA and academic experts, charging equipment and EV manufacturers, testing and certification companies, trade associations and professional engineers.

Car dealers, you ask? Tesla Singapore and Komoco Motors, the franchise holder for Chrysler, Jeep, Hyundai, Maserati, Ferrari and Harley-Davidson here, were involved.

After mulling over the regulations for five months beginning last September, the Working Group came up with recommendations that resulted in a new standard, TR 25:2022. These are the main changes and what they’ll mean for the EV market here:

Faster charging

Audi e-Tron GT charging port
Audi e-Tron GT charging port

The speed limit on DC fast charging will be raised from 200kW to 500kW (or 400kW for the CHAdeMO type of charger). Manufacturers with models that can accept superfast charging will benefit, while their customers will suffer from less “charge anxiety”; at the new fastest speeds it would take roughly 3 minutes to add 100km of range to an EV.

Audi e-Tron GT - EVs will become mainstream sooner than later
Audi e-Tron GT - EVs will become mainstream sooner than later

Cars that can take advantage aren’t all Porsches, Audis and Teslas – the Kia EV6’s batteries can go from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes with 350kW charging.

Portable chargers are in

Mode 2 chargers – which are a bit like your laptop’s charging adaptor – are finally going to be allowed. These portable chargers will have a charging rate of up to 2.3kW, which can roughly push 6 to 8km of range into an EV per hour.

Paradoxically, slower charging should allow EV charging to become more widespread because the Mode 2 chargers will run off 15-amp power sockets, which nearly all buildings and houses here can easily support; some water heaters draw a similar current.

With a 2.3kW power supply, overnight charging won’t top up an EV from empty but will more than refill the typical daily distance that drivers here cover. And because most cars sit idle for more than 20 hours a day, having the option of widespread trickle charging would take pressure off the public charging network.

One caveat: don’t even think about running a long extension cord from inside your house to the car. Mode 2 chargers have a maximum 30cm length between the plug and the charger itself for a reason. And that reason is safety.

Battery swapping for bikes

The LTA’s press release about TR 25:2022 says “standards for battery swapping for motorcycles have been included to provide more charging options for motorcycle owners.”

That could mean cheap Chinese two wheelers are on the way, but “cheap” is relative (also, relatives are cheap). According to some napkin calculations, an e-scooter with enough power to do 80km/h and run for 120km would retail for just under S$20,000 here.

This’ll all take a while. For one thing, TR 25:2022 will take about six months to phase in. For another, bike manufacturers seldom have the certification that the LTA wants, meaning their bikes will have to be tested for compliance in Singapore. Setting up the testing infrastructure could take a year.

A Gogoro station
A Gogoro station

Battery swapping could arrive way quicker. Battery-as-a-Service bikes, like the sort offered by Taiwan’s Gogoro, let riders swap out batteries at dispensers for a monthly subscription fee. 

Gogoro’s launch here seems like a dead cert: a company called Gogoro Network was part of the Working Group.

More electric buses

Charging a bus
Charging a bus

Say goodbye to noisy, smoky diesel buses. New standards for pantograph charging could usher battery-powered buses in big time. 

Pantograph charging involves a power supply connecting automatically with a bus to zap it with electricity from overhead. The LTA already has some on trial and during a 10-to-15 minute layover at a terminal, they can apparently receive up to 48km of range – Service 176 covers 43km at a go, and that’s apparently the longest route. Half an hour of charging apparently adds 130km of range.

ABB, a technology company that was part of the Working Group, says its Pantograph Down charging system could top up a bus in six minutes. Seems like overkill to us, but the next time you’re cooling your heels at a bus stop wondering when the heck the next one is going to arrive, don’t blame charging.

What can we expect next? Wireless charging could be a neater solution.

PHOTOS Clifford Chow, Zotiq Visuals & respective brands

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