Why not Malaysia for the new national car program?
A recent news story shared with us show that Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, better known as Geely (which is Proton Cars joint owner) will probably start working with the government of Egypt to produce electric powered vehicle in the country. As the global need for less fossil fuels becomes more important, the Egyptian government is looking at having electric buses taxis and also private cars in the country.
Is It A Personal Agenda?
It seems strange that our Malaysian government is not working with a company that is right here sitting at our doorstep (Geely) and instead our politicians are starting from scratch to start a new EEV national car program with a Malaysian technology company, DreamEdge.
The MoU Signing
On the 6thof September 2019 the Egyptian Minister of State for Military Production Mohamed El-Assar witnessed the signing ceremony of a MoU between the National Organization for Military Production and China’s Geely Car Company.
The move comes as part of the Ministry of Military Production’s endeavor, aimed at localizing the manufacturing of the electric vehicles in its subsidiaries.
During the ceremony, the vice president of Geely introduced a brief on the company history, which entered the vehicle markets in 1997, and succeeded in tapping into the global markets later on.
In April 2019, Geely announced a new range of vehicles under the new ‘Geometry’ brand and the new lineup includes an all-electric model, the Geometry A, that is close to production.
What Power
Geely announced that the ‘A’ model will be joined by ten more electric vehicles by 2025, and there’s little reason to doubt it will happen. At the time Geely said that they already have 27,000 preorders for their new electric vehicle which was a sleek sedan. Geely says their electric car will be available in six total variants across two range trims, all powered by a single motor setup making just over 160 horsepower.
Battery options include 52kWh and 62 kWh packs, providing claimed ranges of 254 and 310 miles on the NEDC cycle, which should cleave closely to the EPA’s range estimator and the eventual EU-wide WLTP range gauge.
In the same month Geely launched the Geometry in Singapore with great fanfare. The Geometry A comes in two versions, standard range and long range version which use CATL ternary lithium batteries that respectively have a capacity of 51.9kWh and 61.9kWh.
The standard range version achieves a combined urban & highway NEDC range of 410km, while the long range version achieves a combined urban & highway NEDC range of 500km, both effectively eliminating range anxiety. Geometry A consumes an average of 13.5 kWh per 100KM traveled. Based on the price of electricity in Beijing, 1KM would cost just .07 RMB (USD.01) and a daily 30km commute would be less than 2 RMB (USD.30).
In order to ensure the efficient operation of the permanent synchronous magnet motor, Geometry A uses Geely New Energy “Intelligent Power” technologies which includes an intelligent high-efficiency electronic control system, HEDS High-efficiency electric drive system, lightweight high energy intelligent battery system, and ITCS Intelligent Battery Temperature Control System.
Continuous monitoring of the battery system and motor ensures smooth energy output while the intelligent temperature control system ensures efficient battery performance in any weather. The powertrain system provides a maximum power of 120kW and maximum torque of 250 Nm allowing Geometry A to reach a speed of 100km/h in 8.8 seconds.
