Hong Seh to offer in Singapore electric vehicles from Chinese brands LEVC, ShineRay Motors
MORE electric vehicles (EVs) from China are entering Singapore, with Hong Seh Evolution debuting two electric light goods vehicles at the Singapore Motorshow 2024 in January.
This is part of Hong Seh Group’s strategy to fill niches in the fully electric commercial vehicle space in the Republic, executive director Edward Tan told The Business Times.
“The industry has seen the adoption of commercial EVs primarily in the light van segment so far, but we also see lots of room for growth of electrified models for larger vehicles such as lorries and medium vans. We want to lead in bringing in the heavy electrified vehicles such as lorries and medium vans and buses,” he explained.
Hong Seh Evolution is being named as an authorised distributor for a fully electric lorry produced by ShineRay Motors (SRM), with the distributorship agreement to be signed with parent company Brilliance Shineray Chongqing Automotive on Jan 11, the first day of the Singapore Motorshow.
The SRM T3EV will debut at the show, along with the first London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) vehicle that Hong Seh is bringing in: the LEVC VN5 long-range hybrid-electric van. Hong Seh has an exclusive agreement to sell LEVC vehicles in Singapore.
Both vehicles are waiting for the authorities’ approval, with sale and deliveries estimated to begin this March.
These are the latest China brands for which Hong Seh has been appointed distributor, joining Chinese passenger EV brand Seres and Geely-owned commercial vehicle brand Farizon.
Filling electric niches
The T3EV, a 10-foot lorry, is aimed at “any business that needs a lorry”, said Tan. It is positioned as a competitor to the Toyota Dyna, Singapore’s best-selling lorry.
The SRM lorry can carry 1,695 kg or up to 14 people, and has a deck area of 5.31 square metres. A 53.6 kilowatt hour battery delivers a quoted range of more than 300 km.
After rebates and without a Certificate of Entitlement, the vehicle will cost S$53,800.
The distributor agreement covers only this SRM model. In Singapore, EV-leasing and solutions company EVCo is the authorised distributor of the SRM X30 LEV, a fully electric small van.
Unlike other vehicle manufacturers, some Chinese brands have opted to assign distributorships on a per-model basis. BYD, for example, has two distributors for separate models of its heavy commercial vehicles.
The LEVC hybrid-electric van that Hong Seh will be distributing, the VN5, has both a battery and a small petrol-powered generator. This gives it the range and refuelling time of a petrol or diesel-powered vehicle.
The range-extender, a 1.5-litre petrol engine with a 36-litre fuel tank, adds a claimed 411 km to the electric-only range, for a total of 543 km.
Tan said that the VN5 will appeal to businesses that want to save on emissions and fuel costs, but require minimal downtime or a longer range than fully electric vans.
Hong Seh Group’s unit Hong Seh Motors was previously the dealer for Ferrari and Maserati cars in Singapore, until it exited the luxury car business in 2016. In 2020, the group established Hong Seh Evolution, pivoting to Chinese commercial EVs.
