We can no longer turn a blind eye on the rising gas prices, and a lot had turned to several solutions in overcoming the problem. While some choose to change their driving way to a less fuel-consummating style, others take on a much more drastic move by jumping into a hybrid. Electric vehicle is also a good alternative, but unfortunately in Malaysia, EVs will have a hard time to survive as we had yet to have to proper infrastructure such as recharging stations outside the comforts of the owner’s home; until now.
With the entrepreneur spirit still burning bright in them, the Tan Chong group has now ventured into new grounds by establishing a number of charging infrastructure specifically for EVs via their wholly owned subsidiary, First Energy Networks Sdn. Bhd.
“The launch of the charging stations is aligned to FEN’s support towards the government’s efforts to setup EV charging infrastructure, starting with the Bukit Bintang Pilot Program” said the Director of FEN, Reza Mutalib.
So far, they had already set up a number of operating charging stations, with the first two charging points installed at Level P2 Suria KLCC and Lot 10’s 5th Floor. These Level 2 charging station service are also free to use for the time being. A Level 2 charger only takes 3-4 hours to charge up an EV, compared to a Level 1 standard charger that takes 7-8 hours. But a Level 3 quick charger does the same job and only takes a mere 15-30 minutes.
But since these charging stations are installed by Tan Chong does not mean that only Nissan EVs and sister brand Renault EVs are applicable to use them. Any EV that complies with the global IEC 61851 (will be adopted by SIRIM) standard are welcomed to fill in the juice into their batteries at these stations, and that includes the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, scheduled to be launched in Malaysia next year.
