MITI acknowledged it did not hit its EV charger target and is reviewing it right now
So yesterday, we attended an event with CelcomDigi at the RydeEV Experience Centre in collaboration with Yinson GreenTech which introduced a new lease-to-own service for e-bikes included in one’s CelcomDigi postpaid plan.
At the event, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) Minister made an interesting statement on the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations in Malaysia.
Now, Bernama has just shared news that MITI will review the target of having 10,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations by 2025, according to MITI Minister, YB Senator Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. We were there and we had to say this question and put a smile on the Minister’s face when it was asked.
Moreover, he also admitted that only 1,500 EV charging stations had been completed to date, far from the initial target outlined under the low carbon mobility development plan 2021 to 2030, Bernama reported. This is abysmal compared to the planned 10,000 EV chargers that MITI initially hoped to build.
Tengku Zafrul said he and his Cabinet colleagues would re-examine whether the target was feasible, but felt confident enough to say that the new projected number of EV chargers will be increased but it will also be delayed until the end of this year instead. The reason we were given as to why the goal was not achieved was surprising.
While there were many questions and many answers to each of the questions, we know that the gist of why the goal of building 10,000 EV chargers in Malaysia by the end of last year is basically, “too much time taken because we need to follow procedure.”
On top of that, the Minister also stated, after launching the aforementioned CelcomDigi postpaid subscription plan for e-bike ownership, “It seems that the target is quite aggressive because there are many issues that we need to address. It involves agencies such as the Energy Commission, local authorities, and other parties.”
He also said the procedures for charging stations needed to be streamlined because there had been complaints from equipment suppliers. He went on to say, “One of the main complaints is it takes a long time to get approval to set up a charging station. We need to make it seamless.” Well, once again, we could not agree more.
We got all this from Bernama and their full article is linked here. Thank you Bernama for the information.
