HDT Singapore Taxi is launching a fleet of fully electric taxis in Singapore during the first quarter of next year, which will be Southeast Asia's first fully electric taxi operation, Beijing-based Web portal china.org.cn reported on Monday.
The fleet is made up of 100 e6 electric crossover sedans supplied by China-based BYD Co, as part of their strategy to promote e-taxis in Singapore, said the report.
HDT will start its taxi service operation during the first week of September, with all 100 e-taxis being phased into service by the first quarter of 2017, the report noted.
"With its strong research capabilities, great pool of talent and a growing electro-mobility ecosystem, Singapore is an ideal location to deploy our e-taxi fleet to conduct research and development with reputable partners," BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu was quoted as saying by the report.
"From Singapore, we hope to co-create new and innovative solutions that we can commercialize in the region," said Wang.
The company currently -operates privately hiring services with an existing fleet of 30 BYD e6, and it will continue to provide the services, according to the report.
Since the company started operation in 2014, these 30 BYD e6 vehicles have accumulated a mileage of around 3 million kilometers, which means it has helped to cut carbon dioxide emissions up to 1,000 tons, the report noted.
To support the operation, HDT will implement the necessary charging infrastructure to meet Singapore's charging standards, according to the report.
Separately, Delphi Automotive Plc said on Monday it will launch a small test fleet of automated taxis in Singapore in 2017, aiming to ferry passengers around a city district in one of the first real-world tests of automated rides on demand.
The project, run in partnership with the Singapore Land Transit Authority, will road test a concept that many companies investing in automated driving believe offers the fastest path to making such technology commercially viable.
