EV charging in the CBD and Tanjong Pagar: where it is cheapest, and what it costs to park

The cheapest public charge in Singapore's most expensive district costs S$0.50 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), at Hong Leong Building, with Marina South Pier just behind at S$0.53.

That is the lowest of the metered rates, and a CBD driver can pay a good deal more without trying.

For residents, the more useful split is between the office towers, which fill by day and empty at night, and the homes on the district's edge, where the chargers do the opposite.

There is a different charger for the cheapest charge, the fast one and the overnight plug.

The cheapest charge in the CBD

The lowest rate in the central districts is at Hong Leong Building, where Charge+ runs two 7.4kW ports on Level 6 at S$0.50 per kWh, but they are often hard to get on weekdays from 7am to 5pm.

Next is Marina South Pier, where G. Tech runs 22kW chargers at S$0.53 per kWh, usually with an open bay, except at lunchtime on weekdays.

More useful for most drivers is Cross Street Exchange, in the China Square area, where MNL runs 15 ports at S$0.55 per kWh and almost always has one open.

On a 40kWh charge that rate is about S$22, against roughly S$36 at the most expensive fast charger in the district.

For a quick charge rather than a slow one, Manulife Tower is the pick. Its 60kW direct-current chargers run at S$0.58 per kWh and almost always have an open bay.

After those come the Charge+ chargers at S$0.65 per kWh, the most widespread cheap option, at the Pinnacle @ Duxton, Spottiswoode Park, OCBC Centre and the Esplanade.

What it costs to park

In the CBD the parking can cost more than the charge, so it is worth knowing before plugging in.

The office towers are the dear ones. Marina Bay Financial Centre and One Raffles Quay run about S$7 an hour by day, OCBC Centre S$5 and Asia Square close to S$7. A two-hour top-up at any of them can cost more to park than to charge. The revolt.sg charger map shows their parking charges too.

The rate eases after office hours. Most of these carparks switch to a flat fee of about S$3 in the evening, so the cheaper time to charge in the CBD is after 6pm.

The malls are gentler, with Suntec City nearer S$3 an hour and Millenia Walk nearer S$4, and the housing carparks on the district's edge, where the overnight charging is, are cheaper still.

Charging overnight: the residents' squeeze

The CBD is mostly offices, but it has homes too, at the Pinnacle @ Duxton, around Everton Park and Spottiswoode, and in the Chinatown blocks. Their chargers run on the opposite clock to the towers.

The Pinnacle @ Duxton, with 10 ports, is among the largest of them. About 80 per cent of its ports are typically in use overnight on a weeknight, against about 45 per cent by day, the same flip seen in any housing estate as residents come home and plug in. A resident wanting one of the bays should plug in by about 10pm.

At weekends the Pinnacle is full more often overnight and fills earlier, so the move is to be back by about 7pm.

Everton Park runs the opposite way to the homes around it. Its three sockets at Block 6A are busiest by day, and on a weeknight only about 40 per cent are taken overnight, so a late charge is usually fine. Weekends are tighter overnight, and busier still in the early evening.

The three Spottiswoode 108 sockets usually have a bay open into the evening on a weeknight, but are often full after about 2am, and they fill by about 10pm at weekends.

Caught after those hours, a resident is better off walking to Block 101/102 Spottiswoode Park on the same estate, where Charge+ runs 11 ports at the same S$0.65 rate and fewer than 20 per cent are typically taken overnight, leaving bays open all night.

For the Tanjong Pagar and Chinatown side, the Kreta Ayer carpark at Block 335 is the quiet equivalent, also Charge+ at S$0.65 and open all night.

None of this is worth guessing at from the carpark ramp. The revolt.sg charger map shows which of these blocks has an open port right now.

The office towers: busy by day

Away from the cheap sites, the pricey tower chargers sit empty.

The SP Mobility chargers at S$0.81 per kWh are among the priciest in the area, and most usually have an open port. Republic Plaza and UIC are rarely more than 25 per cent occupied even at the midday peak.

The chargers that fill up by day are the convenient ones. Millenia Walk, among the Suntec offices and malls, is taken three-quarters of the day despite charging S$0.77 per kWh.

When speed matters

The CBD's fast chargers rarely have a queue.

Keppel South Central, run by VOLT, has 180kW direct-current chargers at S$0.74 per kWh, and they are almost always available.

The cheapest fast charge is Manulife Tower, at S$0.58 per kWh. The next cheapest direct-current charger, Havelock2 at S$0.59, runs at just 30kW, barely quicker than AC.

The biggest site is the hub at Suntec City, run by Shell, with 28 ports including 10 rapid 190kW ones, the quickest in the area, but at S$0.87 per kWh also among the most expensive.

Paying for it

The networks do not share a card, so the app is unavoidable.

Charge+, G. Tech and MNL run the cheapest chargers, at Hong Leong Building, Marina South Pier and Cross Street Exchange, VOLT the fast chargers at Manulife Tower and Keppel South Central, Charge+ also the S$0.65 chargers at the housing blocks, and SP Mobility the more expensive towers.

The practical move in the CBD is to have the VOLT, MNL and Charge+ apps ready, because the cheapest charger on a given street is often on an app the driver has not set up.

The main public chargers

The main public chargers in the central districts that show a rate are below, cheapest first. Private and tenant-only bays are left out, and chargers are grouped by operator and rate. A few sites (OCBC Centre and Asia Square) run both a cheaper AC charger and a more expensive DC one, so they appear on two rows.

Prices and availability are as of 16 October 2026 and can change, so check the live map before driving.

The upshot

For a driver in the CBD, the cheapest charge is Hong Leong Building at S$0.50, Marina South Pier at S$0.53, or Cross Street Exchange at S$0.55, which has far more ports and is easier to get onto.

Among the fast chargers at 60kW or more, Manulife Tower at S$0.58 is the cheapest.

For residents on the district's edge, the answer is much as in any estate: at the Pinnacle @ Duxton, get home by about 10pm, or walk to Block 101/102 Spottiswoode Park, which stays open overnight.

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See real-time prices and availability for every public charger in Singapore on the revolt.sg charger map at https://revolt.sg/chargers. Check the latest before you drive.

For current rates across the whole island, see the Singapore EV Charging Price Index at https://revolt.sg/ev-charging/price-index.

EV charging guides by area: Ang Mo Kio and Bishan, Bedok and Tanah Merah, Bukit Timah, Clementi, East Coast, Marine Parade and Joo Chiat, Jurong East and Boon Lay, One-North and Buona Vista, Orchard and Somerset, Paya Lebar and Geylang, Queenstown, Redhill and Alexandra, River Valley, Great World City and Tiong Bahru, Sengkang and Punggol, Tampines, Toa Payoh and Novena, Woodlands and Admiralty, and Yishun and Sembawang.

Prices checked 16 October 2026. Sources: LTA, revolt.sg, and crowd sourced from revolt.sg users.