200 charging stations for electric vehicles in peninsula

KOTA KINABALU: The use of electric vehicles (EV) in the country is expected to grow exponentially in the future.

Among the reasons given by TNB Energy Services Sdn Bhd General Manager (Business Development), Mohamed Azrin Mohamed Ali was the rising cost of fossil fuel.

“You can save up to 50 percent on fuel cost by switching to EV,” he said in his paper ‘Sustainable Energy Through Energy Efficiency Lifestyle’ at the Sustainable Energy Convention 2018 yesterday.

He added that there were now 200 charging stations in the country, mainly located in Peninsular Malaysia and the demand is growing for more.

As for now, there are no costs attached to using the charging stations, he said.

Nevertheless, he believed that eventually, those charging their vehicles will be charged for their usage at these stations.

“It is like Tesla in the USA. They used to offer free but now limits to how many times they allow users to use the charging stations. I foresee that we will also head in that direction,” he said.

Mohamed said they were looking for suitable business models presently and that they are also talking with the Energy Commission on the tariffs.

He added that the EV was a totally new opportunity in electricity demand and that they never thought of covering the transportation sector before.

“It is extremely exciting,” he said.

He also said that unlike fossil fuel, the energy that runs EVs were clean fuel.

“Imagine we expose our children with toxic hazardous smoke daily (when we use our fossil fuel run vehicles). We don’t realise until we use EV. It is a very good proposition to the public,” he said.

Mohamed