Mercedes-Benz has officially rolled out the MB.Charge Public feature in Malaysia, just as the company launched the new Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ EV in our market. It allows owners of Mercedes-Benz EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) to charge directly from their car and the Mercedes-Benz App at over 3,000 charging points across 1,000 locations in Malaysia.
Through the rollout, Mercedes-Benz became the latest to join a very small group of automakers in Malaysia—such as Tesla, Proton, and Smart—that have implemented integrated charging capabilities with their vehicles. However, only Mercedes-Benz and Tesla offer this capability via both their vehicles and the app in Malaysia at the moment.
That being said, Tesla’s implementation is limited to its own chargers, while Mercedes-Benz followed the same route as Proton and Smart by collaborating with local Charge Point Operators (CPOs). To enable the feature for your Mercedes-Benz EV or PHEV, you can do so by going to the Manage Digital Extras section in the Mercedes-Benz App.
Do users have to pay extra to utilise the MB.Charge Public feature?
Interestingly enough, Mercedes-Benz did not impose any service fee or markup on the charging fee when users utilise the MB.Charge Public feature to charge their EV or PHEV. In other words, the charging fee is identical to what they would pay if they used the CPO apps or payment terminals directly.
For future owners of the CLA 250+ EV, the MB.Charge Public feature also allows them to locate chargers that are fully compatible with their vehicle. This is because the Malaysia-spec CLA 250+ EV does not support 400V chargers.
CPOs that support MB.Charge Public in Malaysia
As noted earlier, Mercedes-Benz EV and PHEV owners have access to over 3,000 EV charging points in Malaysia with the rollout of MB.Charge Public. These chargers are operated by 7 CPOs, as listed below:
- CarputZap
- Charge+
- ChargeSini
- ChargEV
- DC Handal
- Gentari
- JomCharge
According to Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s website, other CPOs are also in the process of supporting MB.Charge Public, so expect the list to grow further in the near future.
Cross-border support for MB.Charge Public
Meanwhile, the reach of the MB.Charge Public rollout also extends beyond our borders. Malaysian Mercedes-Benz EV and PHEV owners can utilise chargers in Singapore operated by Charge+, ComfortDelGro (CDG) Energy (formerly known as CDG Engie), SP Group, and Volt.
Likewise, Mercedes-Benz EV and PHEV owners from Singapore also have access to chargers in Malaysia through MB.Charge Public. There is no word at the moment on whether the feature will cover other countries within ASEAN, but the company didn’t discount the possibility of expanding further in the near future.
