Showing its concern for the environment, ride-hailing firm Grab is all set to roll out 200 electric vehicles on the Singapore roads progressively from tomorrow.
The company has purchased about 200 Hyundai Kona 64 kWH electric cars and it will release a fleet of 20 vehicles tomorrow with the rest being introduced over the next few weeks.
Kau Yi Ming, head of the company's car leasing service GrabRentals, said, “With these 200 cars, we will also be one of the biggest electric vehicles fleet in Singapore, and we want to be able to take this opportunity to introduce electric vehicles to both drivers and passengers of Grab.”
“We feel that it is the right time to introduce a mass market platform like this, the technology has improved to the point that it has become viable to be used on the private-hire vehicle scale,” he added.
Kau also informed that environmental factors were key reasons why Grab opted to purchase electric vehicles.
“We want to champion the adoption of low-carbon emission technologies that benefit our drivers, their passengers and the environment so that collectively, we contribute positively to the development of a more sustainable transport network in Singapore,” he said.
For charging of these electric vehicles, Grab would be utilising the services of utility provider Singapore Power's (SP) fast-charging network.
Kau said, “We are working closely with SP on this, and they have introduced about 40 charging points at the end of 2018, of which about half of them are fast charging.”
These fast-charging points allow the Hyundai Kona to charge 80 per cent in 30 minutes. This car can travel around 400km when it is fully charged – a distance equivalent to nine times the length of Singapore.
In addition to this, Grab is working with SP to ensure that the charging points are located at suitable locations, such as near eateries so that drivers can eat lunch while charging their vehicles.
SP Group has also reiterated in its press release that the charging points are located close to amenities such as food centres, offering drivers greater convenience while waiting for their vehicles to be charged.
Meanwhile, the electric vehicle option has attracted hundreds of drivers as it will save up to 70 per cent in fuel costs than when they use petrol cars.
Grab will organise workshops for drivers and test drives before they are able to use the cars.