[ UPDATE 18:00 22/08/2023 ] Tesla SuperCharger at Pavilion KL is now live. Here’s how much it costs to charge your Tesla.
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The Tesla Model Y has officially made its debut in Malaysia and the electric car maker has also listed several locations for its upcoming Tesla Superchargers in the country. If you’re wondering if the Tesla Model Y can charge at other existing EV charging networks, the answer is yes. For those who don’t know, the charging situation here is different from the US which uses Tesla’s own-developed charging connector system, also known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS).
What charging standard does Tesla use in Malaysia?
All Tesla vehicles officially sold in Malaysia, as well as Singapore and Thailand, are adopting the Combined Charging System (CCS2) standard. The same standard is also adopted by other EV brands in Malaysia including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Porsche, Audi, Hyundai, Kia, BYD, GWM Ora and Neta. As shown above, vehicles with the CCS2 port have a combination of a 7-pin Type-2 connector and a 2-pin DC connector. The same CCS2 standard is also widely adopted in other regions such as Australia, Europe, Hong Kong as well as the United Kingdom.
As you would expect, Tesla’s Supercharger network in Malaysia also uses the same CCS2 standard just like in Singapore and Thailand. This allows a seamless EV charging experience for both Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles.
However, for those who bought a grey imported Tesla shipped from a country that uses a different charging standard, you’ll have to use an adapter, which makes it more tricky. For example, Tesla from Japan uses NACS while in China, it uses the GB/T standard. If you bought a Tesla from the United Kingdom and Hong Kong which uses the CCS2 port, you can just plug and charge with no issues.
At the moment, Malaysia’s first Tesla Supercharger location at Pavilion KL is still not ready yet as the site is still pending necessary approvals. Once these chargers come online, current Tesla users can activate the chargers via the Tesla app. However, it isn’t clear if these chargers will be made available to non-Tesla vehicles. Under MITI’s requirement to Tesla, they would need to install at least 50 DC chargers within 3 years and 30% of them must be usable by other brands.
Can you charge your Tesla at non-Tesla EV chargers?
If you’re driving your Tesla to a different state without a Tesla Supercharger, you can easily top up the battery with any DC charger that uses the CCS2 connector. This includes the newer DC fast chargers installed by ChargEV at Berjaya Times Square or Gentari’s EV charging hubs at Xpark Sunway Serene and Bangi Golf Club. Most, if not all, DC chargers in Malaysia use the same standard while some offer additional CHAdeMO connectors that are used for Japanese EVs such as the Nissan Leaf.
Meanwhile, existing public AC chargers will also work with Tesla vehicles sold in Malaysia as it supports the same Type-2 connector as shown above. If you already own an EV and have a Type-2 wallbox charger at home, you can use the same charger for your new Tesla.
To summarise, if you’ve ordered a Tesla in Malaysia, you won’t need to worry about adapters at all and you can charge at any public EV charging station in Malaysia that uses the CCS2 and Type-2 standard. Unlike a Tesla Supercharger which is well integrated into Tesla’s ecosystem, finding a third-party EV charger requires a bit of research and you need different apps to activate them. To get started, here’s a list of EV Charging apps that every EV owner in Malaysia should know.
Related reading
- Tesla Model Y officially priced from RM199,000 in Malaysia. Booking now available
- Tesla Malaysia: Everything you need to know about its EVs and charging network
- Tesla Model Y’s RM199,000 price already includes sales tax
- Tesla Model Y Malaysia: Here’s where you can check out Tesla’s electric SUV this weekend
