Hyundai Motor, Singapore state utility to jointly explore EV biz

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday it will work with Singapore's national utility SP Group to promote electric vehicles and establish charging infrastructure in the Southeast Asian country.

Hyundai Motor has signed a business cooperation agreement with SP Group to supply its electric vehicles to Singapore and seek business opportunities in the "battery-as-a-service (Baas)" platform business in Southeast Asia, the company said in a statement.

Baas is a breakthrough business model mainly for EV battery rental and replacement services.

"It is essential for Singapore to generate the environments in which customers can purchase EVs at reasonable prices and have an easy access to charging stations," SP Group Chief Executive Stanley Huang said in the statement.

SP Group, Singapore's biggest electricity and gas provider, plans to build about 1,000 charging stations for EVs by the end of this year, the statement said.

The bilateral business partnership is in line with Singapore's plan to replace most of its vehicles with environment friendly ones by 2040, it said.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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