The Kerteh town in Terengganu is about to welcome another electric vehicle charging station. However, the new deployment is rather interesting as it involved the migration from Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) infrastructure to EV chargers which we believe is the first such conversion in Malaysia.
Petronas Mesra Mall is transitioning to the EV era
This particular deployment takes place at the Petronas station in Rantau Petronas which is also fondly known as Petronas Mesra Mall due to its proximity to the nearby shopping centre. We do not know the exact history behind these NGV pumps but the station originally had two of them according to a photo from May 2017 on Google Maps.
However, Google Street View imagery from April 2019 showed that one of the pumps had been removed. Fast forward to today, a new image shared by Mohd Aidil Mansor on the Malaysian EV Owners Club (MyEVOC) Facebook group revealed that the NGV pump is no longer there.
Now, two DC chargers have taken over the station’s NGV area. Even though they are covered in black wrapping, we can see that these chargers are likely Kempower satellite charging terminals.
They likely belonged to Petronas green energy and mobility subsidiary, Gentari based on the partially exposed colour scheme on the bottom part of these chargers which matches the colourway that have been used at numerous Gentari’s Kempower terminals before. The image also showed that the floors have been painted to indicate that these are EV charging bays and there are four of them at the location.
For now, the opening date for the new EV chargers at Petronas Mesra Mall is still unknown. The same goes for their energy output and charging fees.
A great addition to the EV infrastructure at the KT-Kuantan coastal route
The addition of the EV charging station at Petronas Mesra Mall should bode well for EV owners not only in Kerteh but also for EV owners that utilise the 207km Kuala Terengganu-Kuantan coastal route.
According to the data from PlugShare, Kerteh is currently being served by only one Gentari 50kW DC charger which is located at Petronas Golf & Recreational Club (KGRP). If you don’t count those in Kuala Terengganu and Kuantan, the only other DC chargers that you can find within the KT-Kuantan coastal route is the EL Charge 40kW charger in Cherating.
Alternatively, you can also choose to travel between Kuala Terengganu and Kuantan or vice versa using the East Coast Highway Phase 2 (LPT2). Towards north from Kuantan, you can charge your EV at the R&R Paka Northbound through TNB Electron 90kW charger and Shell Recharge 180kW charger.
If you are heading south from Kuala Terengganu, there is the Shell Recharge 180kW charger at R&R Paka Southbound. Not to forget, there is also a Shell Recharge 180kW charger at R&R Perasing which can be accessed by traffic from both directions.
