[ UPDATE 2/8/2023 19:19 ] Gentari confirmed that the DC fast charger at Petronas Gambang Westbound R&R is closed as well.
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The Petronas station at the R&R Gambang Westbound in East Coast Expressway (LPT) will be closed to make way for upgrade works starting tomorrow, 1 August until 9 October 2023. While details regarding it are still scarce at the moment, the closure may have a significant impact on electric vehicle owners travelling from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur via the highway for the next two months.
This is because it may affect the operation of the Gentari x JomCharge 50kW DC fast charger that is located within the premise. That may not sound like a big deal until you consider this fact: the 50kW DC charger is the ONLY charging facility that is currently operational on LPT towards Kuala Lumpur.
The EV charging infrastructure conundrum on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia
Yup, that is right: there is only ONE working charger on a major highway that connects the east and west parts of Peninsular Malaysia. That is how jarring the EV charging infrastructure in our country is at the moment.
Usually, there is a ChargEV 22kW AC charger at Petronas station in KM27 Karak and another 11kW AC charger at Genting Sempah R&R’s Petronas station. As slow as they might be, these chargers could be helpful for topping up one’s battery if the need arises.
However, these chargers have since been decommissioned as both locations have been earmarked for upgrades by the operator of ChargEV, Yinson GreenTech. That being said, the company did not provide any specific timeline for the upgrade work to be completed.
Hence, EV owners that want to make that 250+km journey between the two cities from August to October should plan their trip properly. In general, they should have their EVs fully charged before they start their journey from Kuantan.
This is not the first time such downtime has happened to the Gentari x JomCharge DC charger at the Petronas Gambang Westbound R&R though. In fact, the previous downtime incident took place just last month which saw the charger unavailable for more than two weeks.
During that time, its role was taken over by a 22kW Kempower portable DC charger. We have since reached out to JomCharge and Gentari for confirmation, so stay tuned for further updates and to find out if there are any interim mitigation plans.
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