[ UPDATE 18/01/2023 2:07PM ] We managed to reach out to Roda Emas Industries (REISB) CEO Izuan Hafiz, who told us that the chargers were taken off the app for testing purposes and they will be back online by the weekend. His full response can be found below.
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It’s been two weeks since Go To-U Malaysia launched its first electric vehicle charging hub, but the facility has been beset by teething problems. The 60kW DC fast chargers had been offline since the event, and now the entire hub has disappeared from the Go To-U app entirely.
The CEO of parent company Roda Emas Industries (REISB), Izuan Hafiz, told us that the chargers were taken off the app for testing purposes. He added that the chargers will be back on the app and fully functional by the weekend, “earliest by Friday [20 January].”
Netizens have reported offline chargers at the hub since the day after the event. At the time, the greater Go To-U organisation—an EV charging solutions provider based in California—responded on a Facebook post by saying: “Creating of such infrastructure projects is a long process and it takes enormous effort and resources to make everything work as it should. Some delays are normal as simply not everything depends on us or on our partners.”
Last week, automotive portal Caricarz wrote that REISB was planning to restore services by the Chinese New Year, which kicks off on January 21. The company advised users to find another charging station nearest to them on the Go To-U app, adding that the charging hub’s Lifestyle Hub was still open for users to rest and relax in.
This is not a good look on Go To-U Malaysia, especially given that it had promised to provide free charging at the hub until the end of the month. However, that was more of a tentative deadline rather than a hard cut-off—REISB CEO Izuan Hafiz told us during the event that the company had yet to decide on a charging rate, nor whether it will charge customer per kWh used or time elapsed at the station. Based on this evidence, it clearly has more pressing matters to solve.
To recap, the Go To-U charging hub features two 60kW dual-gun Star Charge DC fast chargers, which—when working—can serve up to four vehicles at a time. During the launch, the chargers were configured to send up to 30kW to each nozzle, and REISB had planned to monitor demand from owners of EVs capable of accepting the higher wattage during the initial period.
Customers were supposed to be able to book the charger through the Go To-U app, available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The app already includes Sime Darby Motors’ network of chargers (mostly at Auto Bavaria BMW and Mini dealers), as well as those from Tenaga Nasional’s TNBX subsidiary.
Interestingly, Go To-U claims to be the world’s first to offer pro reservation technology for EVs in a mobile app. The local ParkEasy app also offers a reservation system for Shell Recharge which requires an app to manage the smart parking barrier. However, Go To-U has the advantage of letting users book specific time slots up to seven days in advance.
