Charging stations in Malaysia

With the introduction of more plug-in hybrid cars in Malaysia it would make sense to build more charging stations. Up till now Malaysia only has a handful of charging stations for electric vehicles most of which were built by Nissan for the Nissan Leaf electric car but now with Volvo, BMW and Mercedes introducing their own plug-in hybrids a Government initiative Greentech has announced that they will install up to 30 more charging stations across the country with most of them being located along the North-South highway.

Naturally with this expansion it will fuel further emphasis on plug-in hybrids. Malaysia has been slow to adopt electric vehicles and ever since the change in Automotive Policy by the Government the sales of electric vehicles have almost died. However with the new incentive scheme for locally assembled plug-in hybrids qualifying for the tax break the sales have started to grow again. Without the expansion of the charging station network only a small number of people would buy an electric car. Plug-in hybrids are different because it still has a gasoline or diesel engine to power the car. The expansion of the charging station network will not have a big impact on plug-in hybrids since the range offered by the electric motor and batteries barely go beyond 60km and charging time is much longer than any regular refuelling.

I would think that in urban areas more charging stations should be installed so that more electric vehicles should be used to reduce air pollution. Places like large malls, office buildings and hospitals should have charging stations.

The difficult thing about electric vehicles is that there is no one standard charging system for all cars. Some car companies use their own proprietary charging plugs while others use a different type. this makes it difficult. I would think that it will make logical sense for all car companies to band together and agree on one standard system so that they all can benefit from lower overall cost of cables and connectors and not to mention convenience of charging.

Looks like the next wave of electric or plug-in hybrids are here to stay after all. Despite being late to the game, it is still never too late. I am looking forward to see what other models will be introduced in the next few years.