Shell Recharge Malaysia deploys card payment terminal to its EV charging station

Pavilion KL visitors can use credit or debit cards to utilise the Shell Recharge EV charging station inside the mall’s car park. Prior to this, you can only activate the four EV charging bays using the ParkEasy app.

With that, Shell Recharge has just become the latest Charge Point Operator (CPO) in Malaysia to deploy card payment terminals for its EV charging stations. However, it is unclear how many Shell Recharge stations already have such terminals as neither ParkEasy nor its parent company Shell Malaysia has made any official announcement regarding this new development.

Shell Recharge Malaysia utilises Sonicboom fintech solutions

From my visit to Shell Recharge Pavilion KL earlier today, I learned that the card payment terminal came from Sonicboom Solutions. If you have been following the development of the local EV industry through SoyaCincau.com, then you may have remembered that the Sonicboom payment terminal was also used by ChargEV at KL Golf & Country Club (KLGCC) Resort in Bukit Kiara.

Hence, the user experience in Pavilion KL is relatively similar. You start by picking the charging bay that you want to utilise, input your phone number if you want to receive an SMS once your charging session is over, and then tap your card to start charging.  

Is paying using a card at Shell Recharge Pavilion KL more expensive?

It may seem that paying your charging fee using a card at Pavilion KL is more expensive than using the app. This is because the rate displayed on the payment terminal is different from what was listed on the ParkEasy app.

Here’s a comparison:

• Shell Recharge Pavilion KL Charging Fee DC: RM1.62 (payment terminal) / RM1.50 (ParkEasy)
• Shell Recharge Pavilion KL Charging Fee AC: RM1.08 / RM1.00

All the rates above are based on per kWh. Despite the differences shown above, the charging fee is actually the same.

The reason why the terminal is showing a higher fee is due to 8% SST. You still incur SST when you pay using the ParkEasy app but the tax was already imposed on you when you top-up the credit into your ParkEasy account.

For further clarification, let’s use my charging session from my visit earlier as an example. Here’s a screenshot of the SMS that I received after my charging session was over:

According to the screen on the DC charger, my BYD Dolphin received 15.32 kWh of energy during the charging session. At RM1.50 per kWh, the charging fee would be RM22.98 but when the 8% SST is included, the final fee is RM24.82 – just like what the SMS stated.

Idle fee discrepancy between the ParkEasy app and payment terminal

When it comes to idle fees, there is a rather strange discrepancy between the two payment methods though.

If you activate the Shell Recharge Pavilion KL chargers via the ParkEasy app, you will be charged RM1.00 for every 5 minutes your EV stays plugged into the charger. The idle fee will only kick in after a grace period of 15 minutes and this applies to both types of chargers.

If you opt to pay using payment cards, the terminal does not mention any idle fee for the DC chargers. In fact, I did not incur any extra fee even though I tried leaving my EV plugged into the charger for 20 minutes after I finished charging to see if there was actually any hidden idle fee.

But for the AC chargers, there is still an idle fee. In fact, the idle fee for card payment is much higher at RM0.22 per minute although the payment terminal did not say when exactly the idle fee will kick in.

Before I forget, the card pre-authorisation fee for Shell Recharge Pavilion KL is rather hefty at RM150. So, do be mindful of that especially if you are paying using a debit card.