We have always said that Kota Bahru and the East Coast of Malaysia needs better roads and EV charging stations
Here is a great drive story from Amir Iqbal on his Tesla electric car drive journey during the recent Hari Raya from Klang Valley to Kota Bahru.
It shows how me made this journey without any issue and with more electric vehicle charging stations being planned for Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu, reaching Kota Bahru will be easy.
So, read on to find out more from Amir Igbal. “Hai All. It’s Raya month, and I went back to Kelantan in my Tesla last weekend”.
Started with 100% in Cyberjaya with an estimated mileage of 543km. The distance to Perdana Hotel where a Gentari public charger is located is 475km.
So i did a calculated kamikaze based on my previous driving test where i achieved around 150km with 28% charge.
My backup plan in case the charge level is below the required level is to stop at Gua Musang where a homestay is sharing their 22kW charger for public use. I called them in advance to ask the availability and they confirm they can assist even if i arrive around 2-3am. When i key in the destination, the car warned me that i need to maintain below 90km/h to arrive with 5% charge left.
So I started the journey and keep monitoring the SOC to ensure they’re above the required level.
So, I recorded the SOC at a few significant locations for reference:
Tol Gombak(51km) – 90%
Genting Sempah(71km) – 83%
Lentang(84km) – 84%
Bentong Exit(100km) – 81%
Raub(141km) – 72%
CSR(252km – traveled more than 50% journey) – 51%
Gua Musang(300km) – 43%
Kuala Krai(400km) – 123km est. range left.
Machang(436km) – 17%
Perdana Hotel KB(475km) – 10%
After 7 hours (in which 30 minutes stuck on a road block) of relax and chill driving and 5 road block (3 of them interviewing me asking on the Tesla), I arrived at my destination in Kota Bharu with 10% charge left.
Some might argue that i drove too slow to achieve this, but this proved that u can tame this beast and it can be a wild monster if u want or it can also run an endurance if u need it to be.
So to those having huge concern over the range for an EV, here you are, I am achieving 97% of the estimated range on my EV.
TLDR:
100% estimated range – 543km
Arived Kota Bharu (475km) – left 10% SOC
Time taken 7 hours(30 minutes stuck in road block near Raub)
