Is There Truth To Zafrul’s Latest EV Charger Roll-Out Streamlined Claims?

Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz recently stated that the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations nationwide increased by 12.5% as of June 25, compared to the first quarter (Q1) of last year..

According to him, this increment was driven by the government's efforts to reduce bureaucratic hurdles in the installation process. Previously, approvals involved numerous agencies and ministries, including the Energy Commission, local authorities, and the Fire and Rescue Department.

He further added that the government now has a one-stop centre to speed up the process, thanks to the push by the Minister of Energy Transition and Public Utilities and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who successfully streamlined the process.

At CariCarz.com, we don’t quite understand what the government meant by the term “streamlined,” as talks with CPOs still highlight processes hindered by numerous cost implications and bureaucratic red tape, particularly from local councils (PBTs).

For example, the application form from MBPJ and DBKL is 17 pages long, while others are merely 2 pages. Why aren't these standardised in the first place? How is this even considered streamlined? We don’t think this is what being streamlined is supposed to be like.

Additionally, he went on to repeat his usual mantra that the government is maintaining its target to have 10,000 EV charging stations nationwide. In fact, he is confident that they have raised the target for DC Fast Charging (DCFC) units from 1,000 to 1,500 this year. The reason behind the increase in the DCFC target is simply due to higher demand from EV users, although it is much more expensive to set up.

However, we are still sceptical of this claim. Based on our recent findings, data from the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) in a closed forum show only 268 charging points were added in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 5,110 EVs sold (a ratio of 1:20). This is significantly below the ideal ratio of 1:6 to 1:8 that MGTC recommends.

Last year, which we consider the golden age for EV charger rollout and EV sales locally, saw the number of EV charging points surge from 707 in 2022 to 2,020 to support 57,927 EVs.

Now despite more EVs launched and sold this year, latest data pulled from MEVnet by PLANMalaysia shows that as of June 25, only 2,585 EV chargers have been installed nationwide. Of these, 1,973 are AC chargers, while 609 are DCFCs.

This means the country is still short of 7,415 public EV chargers, which translates to about 436 EV chargers that need to be rolled out monthly to hit the 10,000 goal by the end of 2025. Possible? We somehow have our doubts.