Grab partners SP Group to bring in 200 new electric cars next year
Ride-hailing firm Grab will bring in 200 new electric cars from next year, as part of a partnership with energy utilities provider SP Group.
Grab said yesterday the new vehicles, which will hit the roads progressively from early next year, will be available through its rental arm GrabRentals.
Under the partnership, Grab drivers will enjoy preferential rates at SP Group's electric-vehicle charging stations and discounted parking when their cars are being charged.
In June, SP Group announced that it would introduce a network of 500 fast-charging stations by 2020 to be placed in areas such as housing estates and business parks, with the first 30 to be set up by year-end.
Grab said it would work with SP Group to study usage patterns of its electric vehicles to improve the accessibility and utilisation of charging stations.
The Singapore-based ride-hailing firm said more details regarding cost of charging, as well as the electric vehicle models to be used, will be available by the end of this year.
It said, however, the cars will have a range of 400km per charge, which allows for a full day of driving on 40 minutes of charging.
Mr Goh Chee Kiong, SP Group's strategic development head, said the partnership with Grab will help "accelerate the wider adoption of EVs (electric vehicles) in Singapore and support the nation's efforts to reduce our carbon footprint".
"With SP joining our consortium of EV partners, Grab is in a unique position to help drive a cleaner, greener Singapore by encouraging more of our drivers to adopt EVs," said Grab Singapore head Lim Kell Jay.
While fully electric cars are already available through Grab, their numbers are not known.
Green vehicles have taken off recently, with the number of electric and plug-in hybrid cars here at 647 as of last month, up from 137 two years ago.
ComfortDelGro introduced two fully electric Hyundai Ioniq cabs to its fleet last month as part of a one-year trial.
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