After almost three months, around a dozen charge spots are now in operation across the city state. Further charge spots are now being added, and by the end of the year drivers of electric vehicles will be able to recharge their vehicles at 40 charge spots.

The monthly flat-rate fee for using the charging infrastructure amounts to 180 Singapore Dollars (approx. 105 Euros). The charge spots are the visible aspect of an electromobility software platform that has been developed by Bosch Software Innovations GmbH. The web-based eMobility Solution allows drivers to find a vacant charge spot – something that is particularly significant in megacities, where parking space and thus space for charge spots is limited.

The eMobility Solution, which officially entered operational service at the end of June, is designed to be open and flexible, so that in future additional business models and value-added services can be integrated, such as the option for drivers to reserve power at particular rates or plan routes including alternative forms of transportation.

Heinz Derenbach, managing director of the Bosch Software Innovations subsidiary, said: ‘Especially in megacities, there is a growing realisation of the many possibilities this integrated service platform offers.’

The Bosch solution is based on Visual Rules software, which allows specialist users to independently define and modify business rules. The software also makes it possible for other companies to integrate their business models into the eMobility Solution.

The solution can easily be adapted to existing information and energy networks, allowing an e-mobility network to be tailored to the existing infrastructure in a given city. eMobility Solution was specifically designed to be open enough to allow even competing companies – public utilities, for example – to participate, and other providers to integrate their charge spots. The approach deliberately encourages unrestricted competition for creative ideas relating to e-mobility. It is accessible and flexible, offering customers a broad range of services and a high level of information security at the same time.

Individual operators can use Bosch Software Innovations’ eMobility Starter Package to set up a local infrastructure network. The package comes in the form of software as a service (SaaS), making it easy for companies to enter the electromobility market. As a result, all the core functions of a charging infrastructure are more convenient to use, including the administration of charge spots and automated billing. Bosch offers municipal utilities, local authorities, car park operators, traders and other electromobility providers a scalable product that can be expanded to become a comprehensive infrastructure, just as now in Singapore.