Malaysia's EV teething problems may delay goals

KUALA LUMPUR - For a self-confessed techie, Kareem Abdullah (not his real name) is hesitant about getting an electric vehicle (EV).

At the recent E-Mobility Asia 2024 conference here, he told Bernama that he "would really love to get an EV. Prices are coming down and it’s more environmentally friendly”.

What is stopping him, however, is its limited range nationwide. Dependent on battery power, EVs require charging stations to continue moving, similar to cars with internal combustible engines (ICE) requiring petrol to work.

The difference is, there are plenty of petrol stations nationwide, even in the most rural areas to serve ICE cars. The same cannot be said of electric charging stations. Although there were more than 3,300 electric charging stations as of Oct 31, 2024, they are mostly concentrated in urban areas and along highways.

Kareem’s biggest fear is being stranded when travelling outside the Klang Valley, especially in rural areas.

"It’s one thing to trust there'll be gas (petrol) down the road. It’s another thing to trust there'll be a charging station down the road, especially when you're not on a main road,” he said.

Kareem is not alone in his worries. In EY’s 2024 Global Mobility Consumer Index survey involving 19,000 people from 28 countries, Malaysians are warming up to the idea of purchasing an EV to cut costs and to help the environment - no doubt helped along by the government’s full-throated endorsement of EVs on Malaysian roads. (Malaysia aims for EVs to account for 15 percent of new vehicle sales by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050, as part of its net zero emission goal by 2050.)

But they cite charging units and other EV ecosystem issues - such as resale value, maintenance and repairs, battery life, parts and insurance - as their primary deterrents against buying EVs, similar to their counterparts in other countries.

It has given rise to the chicken and egg problem. Most surveyed prefer to wait until the EV ecosystem is ready, but the ecosystem is unlikely to be ready without a demand for its services which, in turn, makes consumers unlikely to adopt EVs.

Experts differ in how to solve the problem, with some preferring to focus on building and standardising the ecosystem first before fully going for EVs, while others suggest encouraging the adoption of EVs and building the ecosystem in tandem.

MALAYSIA’S EV GOALS

To speed the adoption of EVs, the government has implemented several policies, including tax reliefs for EV buyers. Malaysia also removed diesel subsidies this year, which is making businesses adopt EVs faster. Talk about removing petrol subsidies is also pushing consumers towards EVs, according to analysts.

As charging is the biggest concern people have in regards to EVs according to several studies, Malaysia aims to have 10,000 charging units by the end of 2025. According to MEVnet, the Malaysian Electric Vehicle Charging Network set up by the Department of Town and Country Planning in collaboration with the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation, it has achieved 33.54 percent of its goal as of Oct 31, 2024.

Despite these efforts, the EV market share remains small but growing, notching 1.6 percent as of April 2024. Experts caution any conclusion may be premature.

Other than the lack of infrastructure, experts say the lack of standardisation and standards among EVs was a cause for concern, especially with regard to EV batteries, which can be devastating should they catch fire.

Battery expert Prof Azizan Ahmad, from the Department of Chemical Sciences at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, told Bernama that each EV manufacturer has its own standards on safety and quality, with no way to verify their claims.

"With each company, they use their own batteries, they use their own material, they have their own QC (quality control). They have their own safety test,” he said.

"We receive whatever they claim and we use it.”

China produces the most EVs in the world and they are more popular and affordable in Malaysia. Middle-aged and older respondents of the EY survey said they were attracted to Chinese-made EVs as they provide good value for money, while the younger generation preferred EVs built by established car manufacturers and distrusted Chinese brands.

In Malaysia, EVs carrying the Chinese brand BYD are most popular, followed by Tesla and BMW.

Rather than studying the needs of the industry and requiring its players to come up with their own standards and certifications, the standardisation of EVs and their ecosystem has largely relied on trial and error, which Azizan said was not ideal. Any current standardisation is done on a voluntary basis and is not legally enforceable.

One example is how the parking bays at the charging units are designed.

Chin Li, business development manager at Sendok Group, which distributes commercial EVs, told Bernama that it was difficult for their clients to adopt EVs at first because they could not charge their EVs despite having ample charging units on their routes.

"At the very initial part, when all the chargers were built, their design was very much for passenger cars. For passenger cars and commercial vehicles, of course, the shape, size and length (between the two) are very different,” she said.

She added the industry has had to engage charger operators and suppliers to make the necessary changes to accommodate commercial vehicles.

FIRE SAFETY AND AWARENESS

Other concerns include fire safety and awareness. EVs use lithium-ion batteries, which contain a lot of power but can explode or cause incredible damage if they catch fire. Although incidents are very rare, they can be very devastating as battery fires burn fast and hot for a long time, posing a challenge to firefighters.

In Malaysia, there were four EV fires from January to September 2024, out of an estimated 21,000 EVs.

To date, there is no specific method to put out EV fires, other than using the Vehicle Fire Blanket (VFB). The problem with the VFB is that it only contains the fire by cutting off the fire’s oxygen supply but does not reduce the heat from the source. If the VFB is removed, the fire may reignite due to the residual heat. Thousands of gallons of water are usually needed to cool and douse the flames.

Fire suppressant expert Andrew Ng told Bernama that battery fires are the toughest fires to put out.

"All systems, no matter how safe... the tech, is not fool-proof. There is still a non-zero probability for failure and hazards,” he said. "We have to prepare for that one percent.”

During his presentation at the E-Mobility Asia 2024 conference, Ng said because of the risk EV fires pose to the public and property, there is a need to consider and provide for the safety of surrounding areas and structures.

"Just because the incident rate is very low, it doesn’t mean we should neglect it. Because when the thing (fire) were to happen, the damage is very severe,” he said.

There are fire safety guidelines for EVs, such as having a VFB near charging bays. However, they are currently guidelines, rather than the law.

Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia Fire Safety Division director Datuk Khirudin Drahman @Hussain told Bernama that right now the focus is on awareness and taking precautions.

"At the moment, because the industry is still picking up, (the fire safety guidelines are not mandatory for now), so, we don’t want to be (seen as) an agency that’s hindering the government's intentions,” he said.

However, he added that the next set of fire safety guidelines for EVs will likely make it mandatory to require charging units to be accessible to firefighters and fire trucks.

He said most EV fires occur due to collision or debris that cause damage to the battery, and at charging units.

Ng, who is PyroX chief technology officer, said despite the current lack of standardisation, EV adoption and implementation of the EV ecosystem should occur in tandem.

"Because who knows what changes will be in the future. The technology moves so fast,” he said.

He added that waiting for the infrastructure and ecosystem to be ready may be a disservice as the technology may then be outdated.

"Adaptability and responsiveness are more important,” he said.

Kareem agreed. He is not overly concerned with the fire safety aspect of EVs, saying ICE cars have a higher incident rate than EVs.

"I’m not worried about (EV’s) fire safety, same odds as being attacked by a shark. Honestly, I’m more worried about some fool driving on the road while on his phone,” he said. - BERNAMA