SINGAPORE - Instead of spending hours plugged to a charger to fill up its batteries, an electric prime mover truck will need only five minutes to hit the road again after swopping out its depleted battery for a fully charged one at a station in Tuas.

Located at 5 Tuas Avenue 5, the battery charge and swop station is the first of its kind that is open to the public for electric heavy commercial vehicles.

It was launched on Aug 1 by EcoSwift, an electric commercial vehicle distributor, under a four-year permit given by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to test the technology.

The process of exchanging the battery is entirely automated. When the vehicle is stopped in the correct position, a mechanical arm removes the battery, which is mounted vertically behind the truck’s cabin. After placing the depleted battery into the charging slot in the station, the arm will insert a fully charged one into the truck.

A fully charged battery, which will enable the electric prime mover to travel up to 240km, costs $168 in electricity.

The cost of battery swopping is based on the amount of electricity that the vehicle takes from the station. If the prime mover pulls up at the station with a 20 per cent charge remaining to exchange for a fully charged battery, the client will be billed for the 80 per cent worth of electricity, or $134.40.

Conventional engine-powered prime movers can travel up to 500km on a full tank of diesel, which can cost between $300 and $500 to fill.

The EcoSwift station is one of two battery charge and swop trials for electric heavy vehicles in Singapore. The other trial is by PSA Corporation, which has a station within the Pasir Panjang port terminal.

LTA

issued the permit for both trials in mid-2024