Pekema Partners Aquateak Energy To Establish SenangCas

Pekema and Aquatek Energy have come together and announced the establishment of SenangCas - a new EV charging point operator (CPO).

The local electric vehicle (EV) charging point operator (CPO) space just grew a little earlier today as a new firm called SenangCas officially announced its entry.

According to their official press release that Carz.com.my just obtained, SenangCas – the name being a creative pun at merging of the Bahasa words for ‘easy’ (senang) and ‘charge’ (cas) – is a joint venture between Pekema and Aquateak Energy Sdn Bhd.

Pekema president Datuk Haji Mohamed Nazari Noordin (left) signing the MOU with Aquateak Energy Sdn Bhd.

The former is of course the abbreviated acronym for the Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders Association of Malaysia – a club who’s members are comprised exclusively of Bumiputera (Malay) AP holder parallel (recond car) importers.

Aquateak Energy, on the other hand, touts itself as a Sabah-based “solutions provider focused on renewable energy infrastructure, energy storage systems and smart grids.” For this venture, the firm is led by director Datuk Tarmizi Jusoh.

As a refresher, Pekema imports and distributes the Dongfeng Box EV hatch pictured via its CADB subsidiary.

Besides the distribution of the Dongfeng Box EV hatch through its subsidiary CADB, this isn’t Pekema’s first - or only foray – into the burgeoning local passenger EV marketspace. Prior to this, the association had attempted to set up its own EV charging network.

Based on what’s listed on the association’s website, Pekema had established a total of 16 charging points located exclusively on the premises belonging to member dealers. Clearly, this new SenangCas initiative differs greatly from that initial effort.

Prior to the establishment of SenangCas, Pekema and its members had attempted to set up its own charging network. A total of 16 charging points were established then.

“This is our holistic step to help the nation achieve its target of 10,000 public EV charging stations by 2030,” said Pekema president Datuk Haji Mohamed Nazari Noordin, via the press release mentioned.

He adds that this collaboration with Auqateak Energy sees the association aiming to “emerge as a leader in developing a more efficient, intelligent and user-friendly EV charging network.” How it intends to do so remains unclear at this point.

Pekema says SenangCas will see partners Aquateak Energy adopt clean energy and smart grid tech when establishing its targeted network of 650 charging points by end of 2026.

Instead, through SenangCas, both Pekema and Aquateak Energy have set a target to establish 650 EV chargers nationwide by end of next year (2026). The joint venture adds these will be primed across both city centre locations and along major highways.

Datuk Haji Mohd Nazari further adds that the association’s extensive network of members across the country “is a significant advantage in terms of market reach and strategic locations for this project.”

Furthermore, SenangCas also aims to use clean energy and smart grid tech to ensure system reliability. There are even plans to expand operations into neighbouring ASEAN countries in the next phase, though no specific timeline for which was given.

No details regarding operational execution for SenangCas were released yet, but both Pekema and partners Aquateak Energy are expected to release details for which soon enough.

Presumably, we could soon see a new EV charging app released under the SenangCas banner. We’ll add that we’ve been reliably informed Pekema did consider adopting a ‘White Labelling’ approach towards entering the CPO space, but this never took off.

We’ll have more as things develop. In the meantime, given what we’ve garnered, what do you folks reckon? As usual, share your take on things in the comments section below, as well as our official Facebook page…