EPMB Pens Deal to CKD Lingbox Mini EV in Malaysia and Indonesia

While there’s a healthy dose of new EVs coming into the Malaysian market in recent times, most of them are a bit out of reach in terms of pricing, despite the lucrative tax exemptions waived by the government. Fortunately, things are changing as more and more automakers decide to locally-assemble (CKD) their EVs for both the local and regional markets.

The latest to do so is EP Manufacturing Berhad (EPMB), who recently penned a deal to both assemble and distribute Lingbox electric vehicles in Malaysia and Indonesia. This five-year agreement is signed by EPMB with Hubei Dongfeng Power Auto Trade Co Ltd and Xiamen Tsingyan Hylong Motor Technology Co Ltd.

According to The Edge Markets, this deal also sees EPMB under its subsidiary EP 4Wheeler Sdn Bhd being granted the right to assemble completely-knocked-down (CKD) or semi-knocked-down (SKD) Lingbox vehicles, plus conducting independent upgrades or improvements to the products.

Set to take effect from Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2027, this agreement marks EPMB’s second venture in four-wheel electric vehicles assembly, aside from the firm’s previous deal with California-based EV marque, SAEAN Group Inc to develop and manufacture A-segment and compact SUV EVs for the ASEAN markets.

"By collaborating with [Hubei Dongfeng and Xiamen Tsingyan], EPMB (EP Manufacturing Bhd) will be able to gain experience in the selling and servicing of four-wheeler EVs and build up the skill sets required in the Malaysia and Indonesia market sector," said EPMB.

Known as the Lingbao Box in the Great Wall nation, the Lingbox is a four-door compact EV hatchback manufactured under the brand Qinyan Hailong. Offered in two variants, this compact EV hatch measures about 3,584 MM long with a wheelbase of 2,455 MM. The baseline Lingbox comes with a 41 HP electric motor, while the top-spec variant boasts a slightly more powerful motor rated at 48 HP.

Both variants come with similar battery packs with 19.2-kWh capacity that garners the Lingbox a claimed travel range of 220 KM. Charging the Lingbox from 20% to 80% via DC fast charging takes a little more than an hour to go, while charging via the slower home wallbox charger will take about 11 hours.

By right, the locally-assembled Lingbox EV should be able to hit well below the RM100,000 mark once it is on sale in our local market, thus making it for more cheaper than the current crop of affordable EVs available locally such as the BYD Atto 3 and GWM Ora Good Cat. For the record, the Lingbox EV is on sale in China for around US$8,000 (RM35,368) OTR.

As mentioned above, EPMB has previously struck a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SAEAN Group Inc to jointly develop and manufacture compact EVs for the regional market. Apart from four-wheel EVs, EPMB have also dealt with the assembly of two-wheeled EVs, as the firm under its subsidiary EP Blueshark has previously penned an agreement to CKD the Blueshark brand electric motorcycles.

The EPMB-made Blueshark R1 electric scooter is poised for distribution into both local and ASEAN markets, where the firm projects around 50,000 units to be assembled annually.