Singapore: The 20,000 Private Charging Points Opportunity

Singapore has set a clear target: 60,000 EV charging points by 2030. The breakdown is 40,000 in public carparks (mostly HDB) and 20,000 in private premises. That second number is where the commercial opportunity sits, and where building owners need to start thinking about electrical capacity, not just charger installation.

The Regulatory Push

The Electric Vehicles Charging Act (EVCA), which commenced in December 2023, makes EV charging infrastructure mandatory for new developments and buildings undergoing significant works. The requirements are specific: buildings must provide at least 1.3 kVA of electrical capacity per car and motorcycle parking lot (passive provision), and actively install chargers drawing one-fifth of that total capacity.

This isn't optional. Any building works that erect or re-erect a building, or increase gross floor area by at least 50%, trigger the mandate. So do electrical works that apply to SP Services for increased approved electrical load. The regulation assumes EV charging will be part of every significant building in Singapore.

Why Destination Charging Matters

Not all EV charging is created equal. DC fast charging (50-350 kW) gets the headlines, but destination charging (7-22 kW AC) is where buildings have a natural advantage. The difference is dwell time.

A vehicle at a DC fast charger stays 20-40 minutes. A vehicle at a hotel stays overnight. A vehicle at a shopping mall stays 2-4 hours. A vehicle at an office building stays 8-10 hours. At destination charging speeds, those dwell times deliver 15-80 kWh per session, more than enough for typical daily driving in Singapore.

The economics follow the physics. A 7 kW charger costs a fraction of a 150 kW DC unit. It doesn't require dedicated substation connections. It doesn't create massive demand spikes. And it serves vehicles during hours when they'd be parked anyway. For building owners, destination charging is the accessible entry point to EV infrastructure.

Who Should Be Paying Attention

The 20,000 private charging points will concentrate in specific building types. Each has different economics and different constraints.

Hotels

Hotels have the longest dwell times and the clearest value proposition. An overnight guest can fully charge on a 7 kW charger. EV charging is becoming an expected amenity for business and luxury travellers. Singapore hotels including Fairmont, Pan Pacific, and Swissôtel are already equipped. For hotels not yet offering charging, this is increasingly a competitive gap.

Shopping Malls

Malls offer 2-4 hour dwell times, enough for 15-45 kWh on a 7-11 kW charger. Ngee Ann City, VivoCity, and other major malls already have charging infrastructure. The commercial logic is straightforward: EV owners are typically higher-income consumers. Charging availability influences where they choose to shop and how long they stay.

Office Buildings

Offices have the longest weekday dwell times: 8-10 hours. Even a modest 3.7 kW charger delivers 30-40 kWh over a workday. For building owners and corporate tenants, workplace charging is a staff amenity and ESG credential. The challenge is managing multiple vehicles across limited chargers, which requires rotation systems or smart charging allocation.

Condominiums

The EVCA lowered the voting threshold for condominium EV charger installation to 50%, provided lease contracts are 10 years or less. One in five non-landed private residences already has charging. For MCSTs, the question is no longer whether to install but how to manage electrical capacity as adoption grows.

The Electrical Capacity Question

Here's where most building conversations stop too early. Installing chargers is straightforward. Managing the electrical load they create is the harder problem.

Singapore's power grid is highly reliable, but it's not uniformly equipped for concentrated demand spikes. At the building level, the constraint is sharper. A property may have sufficient average capacity but limited headroom for simultaneous loads. Add EV charging to a building already running HVAC at peak, and you can exceed the electrical infrastructure the building was designed for.

This is the gap the EVCA's passive provision requirement addresses: ensuring buildings have the electrical backbone for future charging. But for existing buildings, the infrastructure may need upgrading, or the loads need to be managed more intelligently.

Load Management Is the Unlock

Smart EV charging systems can dynamically distribute available power across multiple chargers, avoiding peak demand windows and integrating with building energy management. This is where destination charging has another advantage: the dwell times are long enough that charging doesn't need to happen at full speed immediately. A vehicle parked for 8 hours can charge slowly and flexibly.

The more sophisticated approach coordinates EV charging with other building loads. When HVAC is running hard in the afternoon, charging slows. When the building load drops in the evening, charging accelerates. The total energy delivered is the same. The peak demand on the building's electrical infrastructure is significantly lower.

For buildings with constrained electrical capacity, this coordination is the difference between installing 10 chargers or 20 on the same infrastructure. It's the difference between expensive switchboard upgrades and a software solution that makes existing capacity work harder.

The Timing Advantage

Singapore's EV adoption is accelerating. The regulatory framework is in place. The charging infrastructure is scaling. Buildings that move early on destination charging will attract EV-driving tenants, guests, and customers. Buildings that wait will find themselves playing catch-up in a market where charging availability is an expected amenity.

The 20,000 private charging points target isn't just a government number. It's a map of where commercial opportunity and regulatory requirement converge. Hotels, malls, offices, and condominiums are the locations. The question is which buildings will capture that opportunity intelligently, with infrastructure that scales, and which will retrofit expensive upgrades later.

The chargers are the visible part. The electrical capacity and load management behind them is what determines whether a building can support 5 EVs or 50 on the same connection.