EV range anxiety for long-distance drives is slowly becoming a non-issue with the deployment of more EV chargers along interstate highways. There are now more EV options that deliver over 400km of range and we recently proved that it is possible to drive an EV from Taiping to Johor Bahru on a single charge.
But what is it like to take an EV on a road trip in East Malaysia which has far fewer chargers than the Peninsular? Joseph, who owns a BYD Atto 3, has recently taken his electric SUV on a road trip from Kuching to Sibu, and then back to Kuching again. He has shared his road trip experience with the Malaysian Electric Vehicle Owners Club (MYEVOC) Facebook Group as well as on his YouTube channel.
His EV of choice is the BYD Atto 3 Extended Range model which comes with a 60.5kWh battery pack. On paper, it has a WLTP-rated range of 420km on a single charge and it supports AC charging up to 7kW and DC up to 88kW. In terms of performance, the Atto 3 gets a single electric motor powering the front wheels. With a maximum output of 201hp and 310Nm of torque, this electric SUV can propel from 0 to 100km/h in 7.3 seconds.
Sarawak’s EV charging infrastructure is still in its infancy
To recap, Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia covering an area of 124,450km2. As a reference, the entire Peninsular Malaysia with 11 states and two federal territories is only slightly bigger at 132,490km2. That means the distance to drive between towns in Sarawak is like driving interstate in Peninsular Malaysia.
As indicated on Plugshare, the majority of EV chargers in the state are located in Kuching and it is currently the only city with DC fast chargers. A few months ago, Gentari deployed a 180kW DC Charger at ICOM Square and a 120kW DC Charger at CityOne MegaMall in Kuching in partnership with Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB).
Outside the state capital, the other available public chargers at the moment are AC charge points which are sporadically deployed in other towns like Serian, Sibu, Daro, Bintulu and Miri.
Driving a BYD Atto 3 from Kuching to Sibu
Driving from Kuching to Sibu covers a distance of about 400km and the journey usually takes at least 5 hours. Before his road trip, Joseph fully charged his Atto 3 the night before at Gentari x SEB’s DC Charger at ICOM Square. The next day, he started the trip early in the morning with 98% battery remaining and he made his first pitstop at Serian, which is about 60km away. For the trip, he has enabled adaptive cruise control set at 90km/h to maintain an efficient drive.
He then arrived at Serian for breakfast and the EV had 85.5% battery remaining. At the location, he made a short top-up at ChargEV’s 22kW AC charge point at Roxy Hotel. Since the Atto 3 comes with a single-phase onboard charger, the car is getting a maximum rate of 7kW and managed to top up the Atto 3 to 95.8% in an hour.
Joseph arrived at Wisma Sanyan in Sibu with 12.5% battery remaining and a total of 391.3km covered. This location has a 22kW ChargEV AC Charge point which is where he charged the vehicle. Besides ChargEV, he also charged the Atto 3 at his in-law’s house using a slow 3-pin charger which is significantly slower. With a charging rate of just 2kW, the Atto 3 was only getting a 10% charge every 3 hours.
Driving the BYD Atto 3 from Sibu to Kuching on a single charge
For the return trip to Kuching, Joseph initially wanted to make a stop at Serian but this time he completed the trip to Kuching on a single charge. This time, he departed from Sibu with his Atto 3 at 100% charge. Due to the rain and limited visibility, he set his Adaptive Cruise Control at 80km/h for the first portion of the journey.
When he reached Sri Aman (about 224km from Sibu), the Atto 3 still had about 50% state of charge. That’s when he decided to skip the charging stop at Serian and try driving straight to Kuching. He attributed the sufficient range to the initial lower driving speed. That gave him the confidence to drive a little bit faster with ACC set at 85km/h and to complete the journey on a single charge.
Mid-way he also made a slight detour at Siburan (about 30km away from Kuching) before reaching Kuching with 10.6% battery remaining. The total journey from Sibu covered a distance of 387.9km and the Atto 3 was still displaying 51km range remaining. He then arrived at Gentari x SEB Charging Hub at ICOM Square with 7% battery and 32km range remaining, while clocking a total distance of 401km.
This just goes to show that it is still possible to drive long distances despite the lack of DC chargers along the way. As long as you understand your EV’s real-world range, drive sensibly within the speed limit and plan your charging stops, you should be able to get to your destination without any issues.
To encourage mass adoption of EVs in Sarawak, there’s still a need for more DC fast chargers and hubs along the Kuching to Miri route to address concerns of range anxiety. We hope to see more positive developments in the coming years as Gentari, SEB and SEDC Energy have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to develop the EV charging infrastructure in the state.
EV charging in Sarawak is significantly cheaper than West Malaysia
What’s more impressive is that the cost to charge the Atto 3 is virtually free for Joseph’s entire trip. At the moment, most of the public EV chargers in the state including Gentari’s DC Charger at ICOM Square and ChargEV’s AC Charge points are still free to use.
Even for home charging, charging an EV at home is significantly cheaper in Sarawak compared to West Malaysia. SEB’s Domestic Tariff for electricity maxes out at 31.5 sen per kWh (monthly usage of more than 1300kWh). If a home user consumes 1,200kWh of electricity, the monthly bill is RM383.16 in Sarawak versus RM587.01 in Peninsular Malaysia (with the latest ICTP rebate revision).
It is also worth highlighting that Sarawak’s power generation is mainly from renewable hydropower and it is partly complemented by gas and coal for energy security and diversity. Sarawak Energy has a total capacity of 5,643MW and a total of 3,452MW comes from large hydro plants excluding small hydro plants to support off-grid communities. There’s also an ongoing Baleh hydroelectric project which will provide an additional 1,285MW of renewable energy.
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- How to travel long-distance with an Electric Vehicle in Malaysia? | EV Guide
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