image: NTU students will be able to use the new Peugeot electric bikes to conveniently travel to various places around campus. view more
Credit: NTU Singapore
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Free2Move - French automobile giant, Groupe PSA's mobility brand - will be conducting trials for Singapore's first electric bicycle-sharing service known as "Free2Move Bikesharing".
The bike-sharing service by Free2Move will have 20 PEUGEOT electric bikes and two docking stations for use around NTU's campus. The pilot project which offers the service for free aims to promote an "active and green" means of mobility for the first or last kilometre around NTU's sprawling campus.
The e-bikes come with a 400 watt-hour (Wh) battery which offers a range of up to 75 kilometres, enabling cyclists to make longer and faster trips compared with traditional bikes. The e-bikes can be dropped off at any location on campus or at the docking stations, which are fitted with solar panels to save energy while charging.
Using a smartphone application developed by NTU and Groupe PSA's Business Lab Singapore entity, users will be able to geo-locate the closest e-bike and check its battery level.
The pilot project also aims to assess users' motivations for using an e-bike and their riding preferences, which will help to optimise the location and number of docking stations accordingly. The study will also look at improving communication systems between the e-bikes and the mobile devices, including exploring the use of renewable energy and cloud monitoring for charging stations.
Professor Lam Khin Yong, NTU's Vice President for Research, said: "NTU's lush campus is not only a living lab for cutting-edge research but it also hosts a wide array of sustainable technologies ranging from building and construction, to mobility and transportation. Coupled with NTU's research strengths in sustainability and innovation, our partnership with Groupe PSA will not only develop greener mobility solutions but also support Singapore's drive towards becoming a car-lite society."
Brigitte Courtehoux, Executive Vice President of Mobility & Connectivity Services, Groupe PSA, added, "We are entering the bikesharing market with a smart electric and connected bike solution for a seamless use thanks to advanced technologies. This highlights our Free2Move mobility brand's ambition for making the mobility easier with a wide array of solutions for getting around. We are proud to collaborate on this project with Nanyang Technological University".
"Singapore is an incredible play-ground. The local authorities promotes several initiatives for an active and green mobility; many actors are deploying new mobility services. The 'eco-campus' project deployed with NTU is one of them; it involves Groupe PSA and NTU's team with high competencies" added Gregory Blokkeel, Head of the Business Lab entity in Singapore.
NTU, Groupe PSA's Business Lab and Free2Move brand are jointly heading up the pilot project. NTU also partnered with PylonCity, a local start-up specialising in e-scooter charging stations and monitoring systems, to install docking stations for the e-bikes that can also work with other personal mobility devices.
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Media contact:
Nur Amin Shah
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
aminshah@ntu.edu.sg
Marguerite Hubsch
Groupe PSA
marguerite.hubsch@mpsa.com
About Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the colleges of Engineering, Business, Science, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and its Interdisciplinary Graduate School. It also has a medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, set up jointly with Imperial College London.
NTU is also home to world-class autonomous institutes - the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering - and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) and Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N).
Ranked 11th in the world, NTU is top in Asia and has been placed the world's top young university for the past four years. The University's main campus is frequently listed among the Top 15 most beautiful university campuses in the world and has 57 Green Mark-certified (equivalent to LEED-certified) buildings, of which 54 are certified Green Mark Platinum. NTU also has a campus in Novena, Singapore's medical district.
For more information, visit http://www.ntu.edu.sg
About Groupe PSA
The Groupe PSA designs unique automotive experiences and delivers mobility solutions to meet all client expectations. The Group has five car brands, Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall, as well as a wide array of mobility and smart services under its Free2Move brand, aiming to become a great carmaker and the preferred mobility provider. It is an early innovator in the field of autonomous and connected cars. It is also involved in financing activities through Banque PSA Finance and in automotive equipment via Faurecia. Find out more at groupe-psa.com/en.
Media library: medialibrary.groupe-psa.com / @GroupePSA