SingAuto has completed a Series A funding round, raising USD 45 million from an unnamed investment firm based in the UAE. The company will use the newly raised capital to construct its production line, develop software as well as trial vehicles, and refine its products.
Headquartered in Singapore, SingAuto is a technology company that specializes in the development of new energy intelligent refrigerated vehicles and related solutions. The company is also presently exploring a new model that integrates the internet and logistics, providing customers with a comprehensive range of technical services.
SingAuto organized a launch event in September 2023, when it unveiled three products: a cold chain vehicle called the S1, an intelligent commercial vehicle named the V1, and a self-charging vehicle known as the E1. All three are new energy vehicle models.
Among them, the S1 is considered SingAuto’s flagship product at this stage. The vehicle is 5.995 meters long, with over 18 cubic meters of storage capacity. It is equipped with a 126 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, providing a range of up to 300 kilometers. The S1’s battery can be recharged or swapped. It can be charged from zero to 80% battery within around 40 minutes, or swapped within 5 minutes.
“All of our products are developed with forward-looking designs, incorporating innovative designs from the industry. The investment is significant,” said Liu Yiqiang, founder of SingAuto.
The S1, which the company said will be equipped with fully autonomous driving capabilities, will be debuted globally in May this year, with deliveries expected to commence in 2025.
Meanwhile, SingAuto is expediting its R&D process. Liu told 36Kr that the company’s self-developed van chassis can shorten the car development cycle by at least half a year. Using this chassis as the foundation, SingAuto can develop new vehicle models to suit a variety of scenarios, including mobile sales, waste collection, watering, and more.
SingAuto is simultaneously making progress in terms of its intelligent solutions. One example is its intelligent cockpit technology, which the company said is being positioned as a “mobile office” solution for drivers. This technology equips vehicles not only with a surround screen system but also smart entertainment systems, aiming to minimize manual operations through voice interaction.
Moreover, the company has designed a domain controller for commercial vehicles, which is based on Nvidia and Horizon’s high-computing system-on-a-chip (SoC) products. The device can support Level 2 assisted driving and development is underway for it to meet the requirements of Level 3 and 4 autonomous driving in the future.
In recent years, the electrification of commercial vehicles has begun to advance both domestically and globally. “Passenger cars run on gasoline, but commercial vehicles run on diesel. … We have calculated that one of our new energy commercial vehicles can replace 50 gasoline-powered passenger cars in terms of carbon emissions,” Liu claimed.
As a Singapore-based company, SingAuto’s focus extends beyond the Chinese market. “We are a global company, and we plan to deploy our products in regions like Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where it’s summer all year round, and there is a significant demand for refrigerated vehicles,” Liu said.
In terms of customers, besides the Middle East and Southeast Asia, SingAuto has already signed strategic cooperation agreements with Linking Fresh and Wanhechun Catering Management from Qingdao, and Xi’an-based Subi Dalenglian Logistics, among others.
SingAuto is gradually beginning to enter the mass production stage and its initial plan is to commission factories on a contractual basis for production and delivery, gradually obtain product and export certifications, before expanding to overseas factory sites.
“Singauto is currently negotiating with contract factories in three cities, and we will soon finalize an arrangement with one of them. We already have over 30,000 intent orders in hand. We will start deliveries in early 2025 with the aim of delivering 20,000 vehicles in the first year, 50,000 vehicles in 2026, before achieving 100,000 vehicle deliveries in 2027,” Liu told 36Kr.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Han Yongchang for 36Kr.