Regulatory, Contractual, and Liability Issues relating to Electric Vehicles Charging Points in Singapore
Background
Electric vehicles (“EVs”) feature prominently in the strategies and policies of governments around the world in their efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change and meet global emission targets. The annual update of the IEA’s Tracking Clean Energy Progress released in July 2023 reveals that EV sales reached a record high of more than 10 million in 2022, a nearly tenfold increase in just five years. In addition, manufacturing capacity for electric vehicle batteries is sufficient to fulfil expected demand requirements in 2030 in the Net Zero Scenario.
This rise in the promotion of and demand for EVs requires a concurrent expansion of supporting infrastructure that includes increasing grid capacity and reliability, and charging infrastructure and solutions. In countries like Singapore with predominantly high-rise residential and commercial developments, the demand for charging infrastructure poses unique challenges and opportunities.
Under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, Singapore has a comprehensive EV Roadmap to drive EV adoption. As EV technology matures, it is anticipated that the upfront cost of buying an EV and ICE vehicle will be similar by the mid-2020s. To support EV adoption, Singapore plans to have 60,000 charging points for EVs by 2030, of which 20,000 will be on private premises, including non-landed private residences (“NLPRs”), and 40,000 will be in public carparks. Works are also underway to transform every Housing and Development Board (“HDB”) town (public housing townships housing close to 90% of the population) into an ‘EV-Ready Town’, with charging points in 2,000 HDB carparks.
The Singapore Government is seeking to expedite the increase of EV charging points through various incentives and legislation. NLPRs, such as condominiums, can tap on the Electric Vehicle Common Charger Grant (“ECCG”) to enjoy co-funding for the installation of chargers and, with recent amendments to the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004 (“BMSMA”), Management Corporations or MCSTs (the legal entities which manage and maintain common areas in strata-titled properties) only need an ordinary resolution to install chargers or enact by-laws on the use of parking lots for EV charging. Most notably, the Electric Vehicles Charging Act 2022 (“EVCA”) came into force on 8 December 2023. The EVCA is primarily concerned with regulating EV charging systems and operators.
This article provides an overview of the key regulation, contractual, and liability issues relevant to suppliers of EV chargers (“Suppliers”), operators of EV chargers (“EVCOs”), owners of property on which chargers are installed (“Property Owners”), and users of EVs (“EV Users”) in Singapore.
EV Charger Suppliers
Under the EVCA, Suppliers are required to ensure that their chargers adhere to safety and performance standards prescribed by the Land Transport Authority (“LTA”) and set out in Technical Reference 25 (“TR 25”) and the Electric Vehicles Charging (Electric Vehicle Chargers) Regulations 2023 (“EVCR”). Chargers must be type-approved, certified and registered by the LTA before they can be supplied in Singapore. Approved equipment can be identified by the unique type-approval ID on the approval label(s) that are affixed to the EV charger(s). Each approval label bears a unique type-approval ID, which will be needed for registering the charger subsequently.
EV Charger Operators (“EVCO”)
Restricted Access vs Non-Restricted Access
EV chargers used by EVCOs are approved based on their intended installation location and use.
EV chargers approved for restricted access use can only be used in restricted access locations, which are only accessible to authorised vehicles. Such locations include parking spaces in landed dwelling houses which are excluded from strata units (ie flats and air spaces registered under the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967).
On residential premises, EV chargers approved for restricted access may only be installed and used where a vehicle may ordinarily park, such as in garages or carparks. EV chargers approved for non-restricted access use can be used anywhere, including in restricted access locations. These chargers are shared amongst several users, in public carparks or any common access area.
Connector types
At the time of writing, there are varying charging connectors and communication protocols adopted in different jurisdictions. In general, European countries have adopted Type 2 (and CCS 2), Japan uses Type 1 and CHAdeMO connectors, China utilises GB/T, and American vehicles appear to be shifting from Type 1 and aligning on the North American Charging Standard (“NACS”) previously known as the Tesla charging connector.
In Singapore, EV chargers installed in publicly accessible locations, such as HDB carparks, malls and petrol kiosks, must be fixed chargers with Type 2 AC and/or Combo 2 DC connectors. CHAdeMO connectors may be provided as an additional, alternative option. EV chargers in non-publicly accessible locations, such as condominiums that do not allow public access, may feature connectors permitted in publicly accessible locations above as well as CHAdeMO-only, Type 1, CCS 1, or any proprietary connectors compliant with TR 25.
The types of connectors preferred under TR 25 may evolve in response to changing trends in the competitive yet regulated market of EV chargers, as influenced by shifts in popularity between established and emerging standards and products. For instance, there is an apparent shift from Type 1 connectors to NACS for American vehicles by almost all manufacturers such as Hyundai, Volvo, Ford, VW Group, BMW, General Motors, Kia, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Honda. EVs that are not compatible with the NACS may still use chargers with NACS plugs with the aid of an adaptor, although these may be less efficacious.
Installation and Certification
EVCOs have to engage a Licensed Electrical Worker (“LEW”) to install fixed EV chargers and an equipment specialist to issue the Certificate of Fitness. The LEW and equipment specialist would also have to endorse an LTA checklist.
Registration
In addition to being type-approved for supply in Singapore, after installation and issuance of the Certificate of Fitness, EV chargers must be registered with the LTA before they can be used. Owners of successfully registered chargers will be issued a registration mark/sticker to visibly affix to their chargers within 60 days from the date of registration.
Registered Responsible Persons
On registering an EV charger, a Registered Responsible Person (“RRP”) must also be registered and assigned a registration mark for the charger (Section 20, EVCA). RRPs may be individuals or corporate entities. RRPs are responsible for the proper use and maintenance of chargers. They must ensure that EV chargers are periodically inspected, certified and maintained by qualified LEWs and equipment specialists (Section 25, EVCA).
Electric Vehicle Charging Operator (“EVCO”) Licensing Regime
Landed homeowners and fleet owners do not require a licence as they typically operate chargers for their own use. However, EVCOs servicing the public must be licensed by LTA to provide charging services. Each EVCO license has a 3-year validity period and licensed EVCOs must comply with requirements imposed by the LTA, including purchasing public liability insurance, meeting downtime correction standards and managing procedures for incidents.
Property owners
Developers
Under the EVCA, all new buildings and buildings undertaking major building and electrical works, are required to install a minimum number of EV chargers and allocate additional electrical capacity for charging EVs. Smaller developments such as those with fewer than eight parking lots are exempted from some of these requirements
Strata Owners
In a move to facilitate easier uptake and management of EV chargers by MCSTs, the BMSMA was amended to lower the requisite threshold to that of an ordinary resolution (simple majority of those present and voting) for an MCST to (i) enact, amend or repeal any by‑laws on parking lots with fixed EV chargers on the common property (section 32(3A), BMSMA), or (ii) lease, rent or licence any part of the common property to any person (e.g. an EVCO) for the installation of a fixed EV chargers for a period of up to 10 years, provided that the MCST’s management or sinking funds are not used for the installation or uninstallation works (Section 34A, BMSMA). Without this amendment, and where the conditions in Section 34A are not met, changes to by-laws for the installation and operation of EV chargers would require a special resolution (Section 32(3), BMSMA) while leasing common property to EVCOs would require a special (i.e. 75%) or 90% resolution, depending on the duration of the lease granted to the EVCO (Section 34, BMSMA).
Use of MCST funds: While an ordinary resolution can now be used to approve the installation and operation of EV chargers, MCST funds cannot be used for the installation or uninstallation of EV chargers to be operated and owned by an external EVCO. If an MCST would like to draw down on its funds for this purpose, it requires other approvals to pass exclusive use by-laws.
Ownership models: When commissioning the installation of EV chargers, MCSTs have to consider which model of ownership of the EV chargers is suitable for them. They might consider their financial and manpower capacities in deciding how much control and responsibility they would like over the operation of chargers and charging fees. Based on these considerations, they might choose to go for a Capex-free, Capex-intensive or Hybrid model of ownership. As EVs become more common place, EV chargers may progress from being a novelty or unique selling point that an MCST brings in through an EVCO, to becoming a standard amenity or part of the common property of the development.
The LTA National Electric Vehicle Centre has released an excellent guide for MCSTs that provides guidance on the planning considerations and the authorisations required for charger deployment.
Grant: Owners of chargers located on NLPRs can apply for an Electric Vehicle Common Charger Grant (“ECCG”) to defray half of the cost components of charger installation. These cost components comprise the cost of the charging system, LEW fees, and cost of cabling and installation. Co-funding under the ECCG is subject to various component and overall cost cap of $4,000. The grant is available until 31 December 2025 or until 2,000 chargers have been co-funded.
Landlords: Landlords of leasehold premises need to consider upfront how the charging infrastructure should be dealt with at the expiry or pre-termination of the lease. Landlords and EVCOs may agree that the landlord should take full ownership over the charging infrastructure at the end of the lease or that the infrastructure is to be uninstalled at the expense of the EVCO. Parties should also agree on the number of chargers to install, operating costs, maintenance, advertising, non-impairment of the charging station, insurance and indemnifications. A scenario where the lease may potentially be assigned or novated also merits special consideration.
Relationship with Power Supplier
Typically, the EVCO will have its own metered supply from an electricity supplier for the EV chargers it operates, rather than the owner or operator of the property on which the charger is installed (if the two entities are not the same). In making its decision on the selection of an electricity supplier, the EVCO should think about the scale of its power needs and the price of the electricity. It is anticipated that EVCOs may also opt to hedge electricity prices via virtual power purchase agreements(“VPPA”) or seek to earn carbon credits.
EV Users
Idle fees
EV Users should be made aware of any chargeable idle fees when they are presented and prompted to accept terms of service, which should take place before they connect their vehicle to the charger and before they are charged idle fees.
Privacy and Cybersecurity
It is increasingly common that interactions with EV chargers such as checking for charging locations, availability and payment is usually done through mobile phone applications. These interactions attract concerns about the collection, use, and protection of sensitive data, such as users’ location data, vehicle and usage information, and payment information. EV Users should be mindful of the terms of use of EV chargers and their associated applications while EVCOs should make sure that their systems comply with laws relating to data protection, including the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (“PDPA”). These considerations form part of the larger body of privacy and cybersecurity considerations and vulnerabilities in relation to EV systems which are increasingly reliant on increasingly sophisticated software.
Conclusion
Singapore has prioritised the electrification of the transport sector through strong and co-ordinated policies and incentives that enable all actors to anticipate the operational changes required, in turn minimising the various roadblocks for EV adoption. Suppliers, EVCOs, Property Owners, and EV Users, would need to be mindful of the regulatory and contractual regime in relation to the installation, operation and use of EV charging stations in Singapore, but should enjoy an orderly transition through the phasing out of internal combustion engine (“ICE”) vehicles to a greener transport landscape.
This article is produced by our Singapore office, Bird & Bird ATMD LLP. It does not constitute legal advice and is intended to provide general information only. Information in this article is accurate as of 18 January 2024.
Authors: Sandra Seah (Partner), Jonathan Kao (Counsel), Genessa Chew (Trainee Associate)
