According to the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), PLUS Malaysia Bhd (PLUS) and the Malaysian Highway Authority (Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia or LLM) has agreed to make things easier in developing and increasing the number of Electric vehicles (EV) chargers along the PLUS highway.
PLUS and LLM will identify strategic locations for the chargers, including locations at R&R areas and highway lay-bys along the PLUS highway.
Government to help in simplifying EV charger licensing
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who is also the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister has instructed the agencies involved to coordinate and facilitate in helping to remove the roadblocks, including concerning licensing matters.
“Apart from this, the government has requested sufficient electricity supply at approved EV charging station sites at R&R and the development of new substations at required locations,” the ministry said following the first National EV Steering Committee (NEVSC) meeting recently.
TNB is also working on analysing the power supply sourcing methods and power use over time to encourage the utilisation of renewable energy (RE) when charging EVs.
At the same time, the government acknowledged the challenges that EV charging operators face, especially in the procedures and licensing of EV charging stations. One of the reasons for the delay in approving new charging stations is incomplete applications, as shared by Suruhanjaya Tenaga (ST) in an interview with RTM last month.
Many EV charger are ready, but not online
Based on observations, several EV chargers have been deployed more than 5 months but have not yet been switched on. Midvalley Megamall’s EV chargers are still not operational, even though the construction was completed in September last year.
Recent activations include the Tesla Supercharger in Pavilion Bukit Jalil, which was only activated two months after the construction was completed.
The slow approval of EV charging facilities will harm the nation’s aim to achieve 10,000 charge points by 2025. The target is currently behind as there have only been 2,020 charge points online so far nationwide as of today according to the Malaysia Electric Vehicle Charging Network (MEVnet).
[SOURCE]
