Are EV Charging Rates And Prices In Malaysia ‘Fair’?

As the Malaysian Energy Commission (EC) pushes for all public Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations to be licensed, this has also sparked questions regarding how consumers would be charged every time they plug in their EVs.

In Malaysia, the most typical form of charging is charged by the minute, though this method technically penalises EVs that cannot accept higher - and faster - charging inputs. As a result, some users are disproportionately billed as they have to stay and charge for much longer than others. However, once any particular charging station is licensed by the EC, the operator can opt to charge according to consumption rate instead - per kWH consumed instead of per minute - should they choose to, but this is not compulsory.

Based on the current 11 licensed stations in Malaysia, only two by Gentari (current promotional rate from RM0.55 to RM1.20 per/kWh) and one by REISB (RM1.60 per/kWh) are charging by the kWh. As for the rest, as well as TNB Electron, they are sticking to time-based charges (by the minute). Why is that so? And do take note that these rates are merely promotional for now, especially the ones by Gentari, which are bound to go up soon.

From the consumer's point of view, the preferred choice would surely be to be charged by the kWh consumed. This would mean every vehicle type with differing battery sizes would get charged according to how much juice it draws in, regardless of the rate of speed it draws said energy at.

Realistically though, would all the charging point operators (CPO) agree with this method? From some input we gathered recently, most would still stick to the current practise of time-based charging. This is because of the heavy investment that CPOs are footing from the get go when setting up a station. The initial cost for these can run in the hundreds of thousands of Ringgits and, mind you, much of these initial setups are self-funded by the CPOs without or with very little government aid too.

Notably, these stations being set up are also technically part of the government's target of having 10,000 EV chargers by 2025. So in view of profitability, this is a long term investment that would require the CPOs to invest heavily on all the infrastructure with hopes that this would indirectly fuel the growth of EV adoption in the country.

So maybe once we have a solid network of charging stations, coupled by a greater EV adoption, we might be able to see most CPOs switching to consumption-based charging methods instead of time-based charging. Until then, we have to just be content that CPOs are pushing the growth in the charging station numbers forward, and that early EV adopters continue fuelling the efforts of these CPOs too.

Also, take note and remember to use the current limited charging stations responsibly. Only use DC chargers for charges up to 80% as the final 20% would take much longer, and will see you hogging the station and deny other EV users that opportunity to charge. Stick to AC chargers whenever possible, more so when you’re not in a rush.