Tesla’s hiring rounds in Singapore have fuelled rumours on its possible entry here, which got netizens excited at the possible prospect of driving a Tesla on Singapore roads.
According to its latest job opening listed on its website, Tesla is hiring for a Charging Manager, which hints to the setting up of Tesla’s own EV charging infrastructure in Singapore.
The job listing details that the role’s primary function is to be responsible for the “strategic planning, execution and management of Tesla charging networks across Singapore.”
The manager will be required to lead a team to offer “comprehensive charging solutions” — this includes home charging, public charging, third-party charging and Supercharging.
Additionally, the manager has to strategically plan the charging network such as the selection and installation of charging schemes in order to “meet the energy needs of customers”.
Besides the Charging Manager role, Tesla is hiring for 10 other roles in Singapore. This includes a store leader, field service engineer, vehicle service technician, sales advisor and customer support specialist.
S’pore Sees An Increased EV Interest
Although Dyson has scrapped its plans to build an electric car manufacturing plant in Singapore, Hyundai Motor will be filling this void.
The South Korean carmaker will be setting up an electric vehicles (EV) manufacturing plant at Bulim Avenue in Jurong, which is slated to be operational by 2022.
According to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, “it is an investment of almost S$ 400 million, and may produce up to 30,000 vehicles per year by 2025.”
In the future, Hyundai customers can simply order and customise an electric car on their phone, and watch it get assembled in real-time.
In addition, Hyundai will also trial battery-as-a-service. Customers can soon buy an electric car without its battery and simply lease it from Hyundai.
These batteries typically cost half the price of the car, so such service can help significantly reduce the cost of an electric vehicle.
As part of the government’s plans to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040, Singapore is also ramping up the installation of EV charging points.
Most recently, Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung announced that they will increase the current 1,700 EV charging points to 28,000 by 2030.
Two-thirds of this number will be deployed in Housing Development Board (HDB) carparks islandwide, he added.
Additionally, Charge+, the green mobility arm of clean energy firm Sunseap Ground, announced in end September that it plans to install 10,000 EV charging points in Singapore by 2030.
With so many EV plans rolling out in Singapore, there is definitely an increased interest in Singapore and we can definitely expect to see an increased adoption in electric cars — Tesla or not.
Featured Image Credit: Sam Mircovich via Reuters
