This will mean just having a charging station at their showroom to sell used EV?
The Malaysia Automotive Robotics And IoT Institute (MARII) and Persatuan Pengimpot & Peniaga Kenderaan Melayu Malaysia (PEKEMA) recently signed a MoA for the development of a connected EV infrastructure and the establishment of an EV Centre of Excellence. Please take note, that this is just a signing, not a firm agreement.
This above seems very odd to us and most of the electric vehicle (EV) owner’s community in Malaysia as way back in 2012 a company called First Energy Networks Sdn Bhd (FEN), which was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd launched electric vehicle chargers that were free for use by Nissan LEAF and EVs from other manufacturers.
At the time there were only Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV EV on sale in Malaysia with fully warranty and service backup.
In 2013 FEN installed Malacca’s first EV charging station at Hatten Square which brought their charging network to a total of 15 points nationwide. At its launch in Malaysia, the Renault Fluence ZE EV sedan was driven from PJ to Melaka to show its viability to Malaysians.
Then in March 2014 FEN installed a charger in the heart of Petaling Jaya. The same year in October, FEN and Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (GreenTech Malaysia) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the 2014 International GreenTech & Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia (IGEM).
Present at the signing were CEO of GreenTech Malaysia, Ir. Ahmad Hadri Haris and director of FEN, Reza Mutalib and Former Proton MD and Cohesive Mobility Solution (COMOS) executive chairman, Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin, was also present.
At the time, the COMOS EV car-sharing programme was about to start and this collaboration was to speed up the expansion of more EV charging stations around the country. At the time there were already 19 charging stations set up and running by FEN across Malaysia in KL, Johor, Penang and also Sarawak.
All the above happened with any MoA or MOU needed with MARii, Miti and any Approved Permit (AP) King.
So, now with this signing of this MoA it seems that this will only be for the benefit of grey import EVs that will arrive with NO warranty, NO after sales and NO back up service.
The need for Rapid Chargers is to help persuade less informed buyers with lost of money that their used imported electric vehicle can be charged and that’s about it.
There will obviously be no further development of electric vehicle infrastructure around the country and the advancement of the electric vehicle charging points around the country that is needed by electric vehicle buyers and lovers.
With the huge rise in EV sales in England, these AP Kings can see a potential in buying used EV’s that came with handsome UK government grants and reselling them in Malaysia with healthy profits as the British government is very quickly moving petrol powered vehicles out of its market.
The British Government plans to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2030, whilst only fully zero-emission vehicles will be sold from 2035 which is just 8 years away and the AP Kings are preparing for this.
