His Excellency, Mr Volker Bouffier, Prime Minister of the Federal State of Hesse and President of the German Bundesrat

 

Her Excellency, Ms Lucia Puttrich, Minister for Federal and European Affairs, Federal State of Hesse and Head of Science Delegation

 

His Excellency, Dr Michael Witter, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Singapore

 

Mr Axel Pannes, Managing Director of BMW Group Asia

 

Professor Lam Khin Yong, Chief of Staff and Vice President of Research at the Nanyang Technological University

 

Distinguished guests,

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

A very good morning,

 

 

1. I am pleased to join you today to celebrate the Launch of the Electromobility Research Programme, at the BMW-NTU Future Mobility Lab. This joint research facility represents not only BMW’s first collaboration with a Singaporean institute of higher learning, but also a brand-new chapter in Singapore’s journey towards sustainable mobility.

 

2. Most of us recognise BMW as a world-renowned manufacturer of performance automobiles. BMW is also a strong advocate of research and innovation into future mobility solutions. This is seen from the company’s dedication towards developing solutions that better meet the changing social, economic and environmental demands globally. To this end, I am delighted that BMW is partnering with NTU to develop unique mobility solutions for urbanised environments in Asia, here in Singapore.

 

 

3. Industry experts believe that unprecedented transitions in the automotive industry could be waiting in the wings. Disruptive technologies such as alternative drivetrains, automated and autonomous driving and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications are expected to reach consumers in the coming decade, and could re-shape and transform the way we move.

 

4. Harnessing these upcoming developments in mobility solutions is an important part of our vision for Singapore to be a smart and sustainable city. We have therefore built a comprehensive public research and development (R&D) ecosystem in urban mobility, which includes electromobility, connected vehicles and automated driving.

 

5. For example, the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N), performs R&D in areas such as electric-car technology and energy storage systems, while the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), under Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is dedicated to conducting industry-relevant research on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Autonomous Vehicles (AV).

 

6. Singapore is also home to the TUM-CREATE Centre for Electromobility, a landmark partnership between Germany’s Technical University of Munich (“TUM”) and NTU, which specialises in vehicle design and mobility tracking research.

 

 

7. The viability of future urban mobility solutions is not solely determined by technology, but also by commercial, user and regulatory considerations. The Government has therefore invested in efforts to study these other considerations to determine how best to bring such advanced technologies to daily use in Singapore.

 

8. Between June 2011 and December 2013, a multi-agency Electric Vehicle (EV) taskforce co-led by the Energy Market Authority and Land Transport Authority test-bedded the use of EVs in Singapore. This effort allowed the performance of EVs, ease of charging and overall feasibility of EVs to be assessed under real-life situations and road conditions.

 

9. In a separate effort, a Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore, or CARTS, was set up by the Ministry of Transport in August last year, to study ways to harness Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology for our land transport system in the coming decades. 

 

 

10. Besides our strong R&D ecosystem and strong Government support, there are many other reasons for companies to select Singapore as a choice location for research and test-bedding for urban mobility solutions.

 

11. With our high population density of over 7,500 people per square kilometre and small geographical size, companies can achieve their target test pool size in a small area and thus incur less infrastructure costs. The current limited range of EVs is also less of a constraint in Singapore.

 

12. Furthermore, with around half of the world’s megacities being located in Asia by 2025, Singapore can serve as a reference market in Asia. Our strategic position in the heart of Asia, our strong business networks and capabilities in understanding Asian consumers, our strong respect for intellectual property, and our reputation for developing and adopting innovative solutions makes us an ideal base to develop and export solutions that best serve Asia.

 

13. In 2013, BMW recognised this confluence of favourable factors in Singapore and established the Future of Mobility Lab in NTU. I am pleased to note that the lab has doubled its headcount since its inception in 2013, and it now has more than 30 engineers, scientists and PhD students from BMW and NTU and this partnership will continue for another 2 years. The lab will cover topics such as Smart Materials, Advanced Battery Technology, Driver Enhancement and Intelligent Mobility. BMW has also availed the fully-electric BMW i3 and i8 vehicles to the lab, to be used for research on real-life driver behaviour through on-road trials.

 

 

14. In closing, today’s event marks the beginning of an exciting partnership between BMW and NTU. I would like to thank BMW for your continued trust and confidence in Singapore, and congratulate NTU for adopting an industry-oriented mindset, which has allowed you to foster partnerships with industry leaders.

 

15. I wish the Future Mobility Lab every success in the years to come, and look forward to hearing about the exciting discoveries and innovations that you will produce in the years to come. Thank you.