10,000 EV charging stations by 2025 target for Malaysia is realistic and achievable – Tengku Zafrul
As is already known, Malaysia is aiming to have 10,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in place across the country by 2025, as outlined in 2021 under the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (LCMB) 2021-2030. These will be made up of 9,000 alternating current (AC) chargers and 1,000 direct current (DC) fast chargers.
With only 1,246 public charging stations in operation right now, the question of whether the country will be able to meet that target by 2025, which isn’t all that far away, remains at the forefront when it comes to any discussion about charging infrastructure.
That question was posed yet once more to investment, trade and industry (MITI) minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz during the launch of Tesla’s new HQ and first Experience Centre in Cyberjaya earlier today. Asked how confident MITI and other agencies were in meeting this target, he said that the government believes it can be met.
“We are optimistic, based on the demand that is coming in, and the supply that is required to achieve that target is realistic,” he said following the launch of the new facility.
“There is a timeline we are looking at, and we should be able to see an acceleration in charging stations that are being rolled out,” he said. “Of course, if you have a linear growth, it will not be realistic to achieve that target, but as you can see, given that sales of vehicles are growing exponentially, therefore the (development of) charging is also expected to go up exponentially,” he added.
This should be aided by a faster approval process for the construction of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure through the guidelines on electric vehicle fast charging lots (GPP EVCB), as stated by prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim last month.
At present, the time needed to deploy a charging point is around eight to nine months from start to finish, the lengthy duration due to red tape and bureaucracy (approval from local councils, land owners etc), but the aim is to reduce time needed for the whole process to around three months.
Out of the 1,246 available charging stations in place right now, 1,007 are of the AC variety, while 239 are DC fast charging points. Of the total, 500 are indoor charging points, while 746 are outdoor.
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