Petronas and Mercedes are bringing DC fast EV chargers to stations by H1 2022

The adoption of EV in Malaysia is steadily progressing. Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PDB), Petronas’ downstream retailer subsidiary, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mercedes-Benz Malaysia and EV Connection (EVC) to deploy DC fast EV chargers in Petronas stations by H1 of 2022. EV Connection is the operator of JomCharge, an EV charging network in Malaysia.

PDB plans to install fast EV chargers at five Petronas stations at first, as a pilot phase. This will hopefully enable coverage between the North-South Expressway and part of the East-Coast Expressway.

Petronas first started implementing EV charging stations in 2017, with ChargEV by GreenTech Malaysia. This network did not include any DC charging points however. DC chargers are generally faster and are therefore more suited to expressways where users don’t have a lot of time to charge. In turn, this MoU is meeting the demand of faster chargers for long-distance travel in Malaysia.

DC charging means that the power is already converted before it enters the vehicle, which bypasses the vehicle’s internal converter. Even though they cost more to build and take more power to run, it can be much faster than AC. For example, the AC chargers in Malaysia that ChargEV implemented were 3.7kW and 7kW, with a 22kW ‘fast’ charger. The standard DC charger on the other hand is 50kW, with cases like the 120kW Tesla supercharger or GAC Aion drawing up to 481kW from its charging station.

Let’s use the base Tesla Model S, which has a battery capacity of 50kWh, as an example. To get the 0 to 100% charging time in hours, just divide the capacity by the charging speed. So a 3.7kW AC charger would take about 13.5 hours, a 7kW AC charger would take about 7 hours, a 50kW DC charger would take one hour, and a 120kW supercharger theoretically takes 25 minutes to get the Model S to full charge.

According to Mercedes-Benz Malaysia VP of sales and marketing Michael Jopp, Mercedes Malaysia will introduce a range of premium all-electric models in 2022 and is planning to go all-electric by the end of the decade. This partnership is in line with their commitment to encourage EV adoption amongst Malaysian drivers.

One of the objectives of Malaysia’s Budget 2022 was to promote the usage of energy-efficient vehicles with low carbon emissions, providing a full tax exemption for the purchase of electric vehicles and tax relief for EV charging facilities.

EVC Managing Director Ir Lee Yuen How announces: “In support of the Malaysian government’s Budget 2022, EVC is delighted to foster this strategic partnership with PDB and MBM in expanding JomCharge DC fast charger network in the country. Given the clear policy from the Government, we believe that next year will be a tipping point for EV adoption in Malaysia. This tri-party partnership is a big step forward to support Malaysia in the transition to EVs as part of our Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (LCMB).”

Many organisations have pledged to expand the EV network in Malaysia. Malaysia Automotive Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) and the Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders Association of Malaysia (PEKEMA) are planning to build 1,000 DC charging stations by 2025. DHL and TNB also signed an EV MoU this year, planning to deploy electric vans for deliveries in 2022.

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