Up Close: Gentari EV Charge Go Proton Exora Prototype In Action

We get an up-close look at Gentari's new prototype EV Charge Go mobile EV charger earlier today.

Following our initial report earlier this week, the folks over at Gentari reached out to the CariCarz.com Editorial team and invited us to take a closer look at their prototype Proton Exora-borne mobile EV charger prototype in action earlier today.

Besides seeing the prototype in the flesh and in action earlier today,  the opportunity also doubled as a means for us to gain more details about Gentari’s upcoming new EV Charge Go mobile EV charging system, and the efforts undertaken to get said program running. This bore plenty of interesting details.

For starters, Gentari have collaborated with the folks behind the Carput app, which is set to integrate a new ‘EV Charging’ service tab for Gentari’s EV Charge Go service. We were also given an initial glimpse of this via a closed staging website on smartphone.

The fact that the upcoming service is being offered via Carput instead of Setel is very telling indeed about the service’s core mission, which is to rescue stranded EVs.

National carmaker Proton supplied three units of the Exora MPV, which now serve as prototypes for Gentari's EV Charge Go.

Besides Carput, the EV Charge Go program also sees Gentari collaborating with national carmaker Proton via its Proton Global Services Sdn Bhd (PGS) subsidiary. This should explain how the program adopted three units of the Proton Exora plus a single Toyota Hiace to house and mobilise their prototype chargers.

Primed in the Exoras are DC charges that dispenses 30 kW, whereas the sole Hiace-borne charger doubles up by dispensing 60 kW. The former is juiced by no less than 192 cells arranged across 12 modules, whilst the latter again doubles up on the cell and module arrangement count.

The Proton Exora-based prototype (left) features a 30 kW DC charger juiced by 192 cells arranged across 12 modules. The Hiace-based unit (right) doubles things up by dispensing 60 kW DC charges instead.

What’s interesting to note is that all four vehicles mentioned have received road-legal certification by both JPJ and Puspakom. Our chats with Gentari personnel today revealed that this was a key challenge that it easily navigated thanks to the aforementioned collaboration with Proton through its PGS subsidiary.

In regards to the ability to power remote situations and missions (i.e. a disaster zone), Gentari says this is theoretically possible through the EV Charge Go mobile chargers. However, Gentari personnel we spoke with today clarified that this will require further tests to ascertain their actual feasibility.

Surely, the addition of this upcoming EV Charge Go mobile charging service and solution is perhaps a natural next step by the Petronas subsidiary.

In its initial phase, users can book the EV Charge Go service via the Carput website whilst integration into the main Carput app is still being developed.

As disclosed by Gentari personnel again today, these prototype Exora- and Hiace-borne mobile EV chargers are still undergoing field tests. This will allow the folks at Gentari to properly assess the real-world commercial viability of the system across both B2C and B2B channels.

Said field tests also doubles up as a market survey for the EV Charge Go program, as well as to ascertain the feasibility of a future physical station.

Operationally, full-scale deployment still require some time as there are plenty of other things that needs sorting out first. A small-scale deployment is expected to commence anytime now, with this initial stage’s coverage focused primarily throughout the Klang Valley.

While bookings via the Carput app is still under development, users can still book the EV Charge Go service via Carput’s website. Besides that, Gentari are also in the midst of setting a WhatsApp-based customer support channel to complement this.

On top of a RM10 booking fee, users will be charged RM0.80 per minute of charging, and there's the choice between a 15- or 30-minute charging blocks too.

As for booking and charging rates, Gentari will initially trial a scheme that sees users levied firstly with an RM10 booking fee, followed by charging rates of RM0.80 per minute. Users will also get to choose between two charging blocks, one lasting for a minimum of 15 minutes, whilst the other lasts for 30 minutes instead.

You can learn more about Gentari’s new EV Charge Go service, or perhaps sign up and be part of its pilot program by emailing them at: [email protected].