One of the biggest change in technology in the 2020 era is Electric Vehicles (EV). Remembering just a few years back, vehicle running on purely battery is just a concept. It all changes when China had opened its doors to Tesla and these vehicles went from dreams to reality.
The technology behind EV had been established for a few years now and it is gaining popularity quickly in modern countries. While most countries are moving towards EV, it is just a matter of time Malaysia adopts it too. However, the only question that we all have is, when?
To fully adopt the concept of EV, Malaysia faces 3 main challenges. If Malaysia is able to overcome them, EV will definitely be welcomed by Malaysians.
- Charging stations
- Unaffordable prices
- Electricity generation
Charging stations
Electric vehicles consumes electric instead of fossil fuel. As of now, Malaysia have over 300 EV charging stations across the nation. The amount of EV charging stations are so far off comparing to petrol stations. What’s worse is that most of these charging stations are located around the capital of the nation.
This is just a turn off for those that are interested in EV. Just can’t imagine how inconvenient it is if you are traveling from Penang to Johor and you can only charge your EV when you reach the capital. Sabah and Sarawak had been totally off the charts when it comes to progress for EV.
This map shows all the charging station across Malaysia.
Unaffordable prices
EV functions exactly as other cars, to carry one to their destination. However, the price tag on EV is definitely much higher than normal vehicles. Even the lowest price that an EV can go is nothing less than RM100,000.
This is almost double of the fuel efficient cars in Malaysia. The Perodua Bezza 1.0, Proton Iriz 1.3, Myvi 1.3, Suzuki Alto 1.0 and Hyundai i10 had a starting price of less than RM50,000 and the these are so much more attractive than the price tag on EV.
Electricity generation
Most charging stations provide 3.7kW AC Chargers and these will take less than 8 hours to fully charge an EV. While the best charges Malaysia currently has is 50kW DC and these will take less than 2 hours to full charge. By just looking at these numbers, can you imagine how much electricity we need if everyone charges their car over the night.
Malaysia is currently powered by 42% gas turbines, 27% crude oil, 21% coal, 6% hydropower and the remaining are of other sources. If we are switching over to EV, the very first step is to ensure that Malaysia generates enough electricity and it needs to be sustainable too.
As of now, Malaysia’s sources of energy are mainly non-renewable and these will definitely come to an end as time passes.
Is Malaysia ready for EV?
The quick answer is no. Malaysia currently does not have the facilities to support EV being commonly used on road. However, things can change if the correct policies are implemented to support the ecosystem for EV. As of now, the Government of Malaysia had the National Automotive Plan 2020 in place. Despite that, the progress is still slow.
