Tesla Owners Can Breathe Easy as LTA Signs Off on OBU Battery Safety

The Land Transport Authority has moved to quell growing anxiety among Singapore's Tesla community, confirming that the external battery packs required to power the new On-Board Units in their vehicles comply with international safety standards — and will not pose a fire risk under normal operating conditions.

The reassurance comes after the Tesla Owners Club Singapore wrote to the LTA in early February, raising pointed questions about the safety of installing a continuously charged lithium battery system inside a vehicle cabin. The club's letter flagged the absence of visible active cooling or thermal management on the device, and cited fire hazard concerns should the battery overheat.

What the LTA Said

The authority's response, issued on Feb 20, was unambiguous: the external battery device does not charge continuously, and it has been tested against two key International Electrotechnical Commission standards — IEC-60068, which covers resistance to environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, vibration and shock, and IEC-60529, which governs resistance to dust and water ingress.

The LTA added that it arrived at the external battery solution only after working closely with Tesla Singapore to find a workable fix. The crux of the problem is that unlike most vehicles on Singapore's roads, Teslas do not maintain a constant power supply when switched off — a prerequisite for the new OBU to function reliably.

Two Devices, One Mandate

Since December 2, 2024, newly delivered Teslas have been fitted with the iRoad Powerpack Pro 12, a device made by a South Korean company better known for in-car cameras. From January 2026, older Teslas undergoing OBU retrofits will instead receive a customised unit developed by local engineering firm Hope Technik, which uses lithium iron phosphate battery cells — the same chemistry employed by major EV manufacturers for its thermal stability.

Both devices are installed exclusively by Indeco Engineers. Importantly, there is no charge for the installation if it is completed within three months of a final reminder from the LTA, which began going out to owners in February.

As of end-2025, approximately 4,200 Teslas have been fitted with the iRoad model and 380 with the Hope Technik unit. With 8,635 Teslas registered in Singapore at that point, the LTA still has considerable ground to cover before the January 1, 2027 deadline — the date by which all Singapore-registered vehicles must be equipped with an OBU as the country completes its transition to the next-generation Electronic Road Pricing system.

The Bigger Picture

The OBU rollout has been one of the more logistically complex aspects of Singapore's ERP 2.0 transition. For most drivers, the process has been straightforward — the device draws power directly from the vehicle's electrical system. For Tesla owners, the workaround has added a layer of complexity that, until this week, had also generated genuine safety concerns.

The LTA's confirmation that the devices meet established international benchmarks should close that chapter. Across the broader vehicle population, around 930,000 vehicles — or 93 per cent of the total — have already been fitted with OBUs, suggesting the programme is well on track ahead of next year's hard deadline.