EVC Calls For More TNB Substations Roll Out, Pushes For Plug-And-Charge Adoption

During a recent BFM podcast session titled, “Still Room To Go For EV Adoption”, Ir Lee Yuen How, Managing Director of EV Connection (EVC), expressed enthusiasm in transitioning to the Plug & Charge  approach, which would eliminate the necessity for mobile applications. EVC has launched their pilot Plug & Charge initiative with the Chery Omoda E5 earlier this month.

He further stated that he is looking forward to a one-time subsidy from the government to encourage EV adoption, as proposed by YB Liew Chin Tong, Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry. This subsidy, combined with affordably-priced EV, will undoubtedly appeal to both the B40 and M40 categories. The subsidies might even be used to offset the initial down payment, attracting more buyers.

Lee also emphasised the importance of the EV Road Tax after 2025 in promoting EV adoption. This is a critical component for increasing adoption that has been overlooked and delayed. Many potential EV owners are on the fence about making the move until they know the road tax rate.

When questioned about the "Charging Desert," a topic that CariCarz recently touched on, Lee said that EV charger growth so far has been quite favourable, with MEVnet dashboard logging a total of 2020 EV chargers, 495 of which are DCFC. This far exceeds the 2023 target of 370 DCFC.

To further address the issue of “Charging Desert”, he requests that the electricity supplier, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), act faster and set up the substations that CPOs would require ahead of time, rather than waiting for charging stations to be installed first to hasten deployment.

Furthermore, with the demand for a time-based energy usage module in works to reduce the strain on the national grid, customers could soon enjoy savings when charging during off-peak hours.

When asked the all-important subject about resale value, Lee said that the current assumption that an EV battery will only live until the end of the battery warranty period, is the main reason that affects EV resale value. He further added that some brands have tested EV batteries and found only 12% degradation after more than 322,000 KM of use.

Furthermore, as technologies advance and newer battery technologies emerge, such as sodium-based and solid-state batteries, the cost of owning an EV will decrease over time.

With regard to the issue of EV fires, Lee stated that EVs are theoretically 60 times safer than ICE cars and have less fire incidences worldwide. However, when one occurs, the media catches up on it and hypes it up in order to promote engagement, resulting in EV panic..

Moremore, nowadays chances of EV fires are further mitigated in many ways including regulated EV Charger installation, requirement for EV Fire blanket, and, most importantly, the Fire Departments (BOMBA) readiness to deal with EV fire should one occur.