[ UPDATE 30/10/2024 ] The Gentari Petronas KLIA DC Charger is now rated at 50kW and priced at RM1.50 per kWh. There’s now a 240kW DC Charger with four nozzles at Petronas KLIA 2.
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Gentari has added yet another DC fast charger to its EV charging network. This time around, the charger is located at the Petronas station nearby the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
While there might be several Petronas stations within the KLIA area, this station is the only one that has a McDonald’s Drive-Thru as one of its F&B outlets. So, that is the easiest way to identify it but if you want to be specific, the station which is also known as Petronas KLIA 1 is located on the route heading outwards from KLIA.
The DC Fast charger deployed by Gentari is a Kempower Station Charger. This is a standalone unit which is different from the dynamic power-sharing EV charging system deployed at its EV charging hub in Bangi Golf Club.
Despite that, it comes with plenty of traits that were also available on the previously deployed charging satellites including the spring-loaded charging cable which makes it slightly easier for users to manoeuvre the hefty DC charging cable. There is also the handy cloud-based monitoring capability which allows EV owners to keep track of the charging progress through the web, just by scanning the QR code on the charger’s screen.
At the moment, the DC fast charger at Petronas KLIA 1 is being set to deliver up to 49kW of output through a single CCS2 connector. During our own testing yesterday, we managed to get a much higher peak output of 50kW although it took around nine minutes before that happened.
Regarding the charging fee, it currently costs RM1.10 per minute to use the charger at this station. Given the relatively low charging speed, this means that it is rather costly to charge your EV through this charger.
Despite that, the charger still has a role to help alleviate range anxiety during inter-state travel given its proximity to the North-South Expressway Central Link (ELITE). Hence, we hope that Gentari considers changing the fee structure to kWh-based pricing.
On a related note, this Kempower Station Charger has a modular design. So, this means Gentari can easily improve the capability of the charger in the future by adding another connector and/or increasing its output subject to the power capability of the area.
Accessible through Setel, you are able to gain 3x Mesra points through the app by charging your EV at this location until 14 July 2023. Aside from that, the charger can also be accessed using the JomCharge app and thanks to the recent landmark roaming partnership, expect it to be available via the ChargEV app in the near future as well.
