Gallery: Game-Changing EVs And EV Tech On Show At IEMS 2023

Organised by Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) and Qube Integrated Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the International Electric Mobility Showcase 2023 (IEMS 2023) is happening this week at the KL Convention Centre from 4 Oct to 6 Oct.

We took some time to soak up some of the highlights on show from the local auto industry present at the expo. A quick one-hour tour was enough for us to see that plenty of key brands and players from all sides of said industry and field were present.

PRO-NET and its smart Automobiles brand were amongst the biggest presence from which. Said Proton-owned subsidiary had both its upcoming #1 and #1 Brabus models displayed, the latter even marking both its local and regional debut today too – read our in-depth report on which by clicking these blue words...

The fanfare towards  said performance flagship offering from the smart brand almost eclipsed UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) and its display located just across smart’s. The latter giant has both its recently launched Innova Zenix plug-in hybrid (PHEV),  and still-not-launched bZ4x  showcased.

In the case of the latter BEV model, perhaps shows like IEMS 2023 are critical grounds for the firm gauge reception, collect data, and garner more feedback, all of which being critical towards said model which is poised to become said stalwart’s first BEV offering to enter the market soon.

Both Volvo Car Malaysia and BYD SD Motors were represented at the show by dealers arms, the former brigning forth their respective XC40 and C40 Recharge models on display. Chinese upstarts BYD had both their successful Atto 3 SUV and relatively new Dolphin hatch on show for the attendees.

Speaking of crowd favourites, Tesla Motors Malaysia also had a show space featuring the officially imported and built-for-Malaysia Model Y. Just that, plus a handful of Tesla product ‘specialists’ were present, along with a QR code standee indicating that the Model 3 sedan is now open for orders.

Yes, not the sort of effort we expected from perhaps the most exciting name to enter the local EV space recently – we honestly expected more. But perhaps the opening of its new superchargers in Johor Bahru on the same day saw the firm perhaps prioritising its somewhat lean manpower a little.

What towered over the exhibition hall too was the Volvo FM Electric Freight truck showcased at the Volvo truck stand. Seasoned readers will be familiar with it already as we’ve covered the truck local launch extensively several months back.

Said truck was, without doubt, the largest EV on show here, even eclipsing the BYD electric bus Prasarana had on display, and a certain life-saving machine that we also got to take a closer look at sometime back. Of course, there was more.

With EVs on show, it was only natural to see local charging point operators (CPOs) and EV infrastructure hardware developers present here. The largest presence for which arguably belonged to two giants, those being Petronas-owned Gentari and TNB-owned Electron subsidiaries.

Both had a variety of the solutions and hardware showcased at their respective stands. Despite the low count of publicly accessible EV chargers still at present, said solutions and hardware showcased by both subsidiaries show perhaps some hope that this side of the industry will accelerate its growth quicker.

In fact, that was one of the promises outlined by the government via the National EV Pavilion display booth. Alongside which were a series of smaller display booths occupied by various independent CPOs that included the likes of ChargeSini, Go-To-U, V-Charge, and more.

Just before calling it a day, we even managed to catch a glimpse of the novel solar power-based EV charging solution system displayed by Leader Energy. Said display was officially supported by BMW Group Malaysia, thus explaining the presence of the BMW iX3 used in said tech’s showcase.

From what we can observe, the fanfare surrounding IEMS 2023 indicates strong promise for further acceleration and growth for the local EV industry, and its accompanying ecosystem. Visit iems-malaysia.com.my for more details should you be keen to attend its final day tomorrow.