Gentari launches Southeast Asia’s first 350kW EV charger, pay by kWh instead of time

Gentari, the subsidiary of Petronas, has launched the first public 350kW EV supercharger in Southeast Asia. This is the fastest EV charger in Malaysia capable of charging an electric vehicle from 10-80% in just 18 minutes.

The first site is at X Park, Sunway Serene at Sungei Way Free Trade Industrial Zone which has a total of 10 EV charging bays. This includes three bays for 350kW DC charging, two bays for 180kW DC charging, two bays for 22kW AC charging and three bays for 7kW AC charging.

At the moment, there are several EVs that can take advantage of the faster 350kW DC charging. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 (72.6kWh) and KIA EV6 (77.4kWh)with an 800V architecture can charge from 10-80% in just 18 minutes with a 350kW charger. Meanwhile, the Porsche Taycan (79.2kWh) which also uses an 800V architecture can be charged from 5-80% in just 22 minutes.

What’s interesting is that Gentari’s new public EV charging site at X Park is the first in Malaysia to receive Energy Commission’s Electric Vehicle Charging System (EVCS) license. This allows the charging stations to charge by kWh instead of parking time, which is a more efficient way to pay for EV charging. Effective 1st December, 180kW DC costs RM1.00 per kWh while 350kW costs RM1.20/kWh. Meanwhile, all AC chargers will cost RM0.55/kWh.

We managed to charge a KIA EV6 from 50-90% charge in 15 minutes which delivered 33.52kWh. With Gentari’s current pricing at X Park, this charge would cost about RM40 versus RM60 based on Shell Recharge’s RM4 per minute charging rate for 180kW DC fast charging along the highway. Take note that the DC fast charging rate is often the highest between 0-50% before it starts to decrease gradually.

The chargers at X Park will be open to the public starting tomorrow (1st December) and they will be offered free of charge until 15th December 2022. After that, you can activate and pay for the EV charging via Setel or JomCharge.

Gentari also has an upcoming EV charging hub at Bangi Golf Resort which has also received an EVCS license. The site also features Malaysia’s first Kempower Dynamic Power Sharing EV chargers. These chargers have a total capacity of 200kW which can be shared dynamically through 4 EV DC charging guns.

Since its introduction in June 2022, Gentari has deployed 117 charging points across 20 locations in Malaysia and a total of 133 charging points in India. It aims to be Asia Pacific’s preferred green mobility solutions provider to capture 10% of the market share across key markets in Asia Pacific by 2030. In the mid-term, it aims to install 9,000 public charging points by 2026 with greater focus in Malaysia and India.

Gentari’s Chief Green Mobility Officer Shah Yang Razalli said “Gentari’s new high-speed charging hub at X Park Sunway Serene is expected to contribute significantly towards supporting a viable EV ecosystem by improving range confidence for EV drivers with a focus on the urban charging experience. As the first charging system to be licensed by EC, we are pleased to support efforts to standardise and govern Malaysia’s emerging green mobility sector, towards boosting consumer confidence. Gentari is also pleased to be the first to offer an equitable kilowatt-hour (kWh) based pricing mechanism, demonstrating our team’s customer-centric mindset and pace to act.”

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