How Many Charging Stations Does Malaysia Need If Everyone Switches To EVs?

Based on current stats, we’ve reached about 23% of our goal of installing 10,000 public EV chargers in Malaysia.

Credit: Tesla/BYD

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Imagine a Malaysia where petrol stations are replaced by electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. Sounds futuristic, right? But as the world shifts towards greener technologies, this scenario is becoming increasingly plausible.

Based on the latest figure we could find, Malaysia has about 3,500 petrol stations scattered across cities, towns, and highways.

On the other hand, the current number of public EV charging stations stands at 2,288, with an ambitious goal to increase this to 10,000 by 2025.

Based on the stats above, we’re about 23% of the way towards our #RoadTo10K.

We’re no math whizzes, but seeing as how we’re halfway into 2024 – technically, if we keep going at this rate, we might actually be able to reach the goal of 10,000 by the end of 2025!

via GIPHY

But, are 10,000 EV stations enough if the entire country goes fully electric? 🚙

Firstly, for us to fully transition to EVs, we’d need to not only match but exceed the number of petrol stations that we have.

Unlike petrol cars, which take a few minutes to refuel, EVs can take anywhere from 30 minutes (for fast charging) to several hours (for slow charging). So, having more chargers is essential to avoid long waiting times.

Additionally, a robust network of EV chargers ensures that EV owners can travel long distances without worrying about running out of charge.

Our government is already on the move, streamlining approvals for the installation of new charging stations and encouraging private investment.

The goal is to create a seamless experience for EV users, akin to or even better than the current experience with petrol stations.

Now, let’s take a cue from the U.S. where studies suggest that for every vehicle on the road to be electric, the number of public chargers would need to increase six-fold from current numbers.

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This is based on estimates from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and S&P Global, which project a need for millions of charging points by 2030 to support the expected surge in EVs.

Again, we’re no math whizzes, but if we apply this logic to Malaysia, it would mean that we’re not very far off.

If we take our current number of charging stations (2,288) and multiply that by 6, we get 13,728.

via GIPHY

That’s the number of charging stations that we would need to ensure convenience and accessibility. This would include a mix of slower AC chargers and faster DC chargers to meet different needs.

Of course, these are all purely estimations based on present information.

And the whole country running on EV cars is also an entirely hypothetical scenario. But with all that taken into account, 10,000 is a pretty good starting point, right?

Not bad lah, Malaysia. *pats ourselves on the back*

Does this mean it’s time to like, share, and subscribe to EVs? 😍

Malaysia has more than 100,000 registered EVs as of 2023. Additionally, less than 2% or 13,301 out of 832,340 new vehicles registered across the country that same year were electric.

Transitioning to EVs isn’t just about replacing petrol stations with chargers, it’s about building an infrastructure that supports EV growth.

This includes encouraging the installation of residential chargers at homes and apartments, and exploring technologies like wireless charging and battery swapping to make charging more convenient.

Yeap, with advancements in battery technology and faster charging solutions, features like wireless charging for EVs aren’t that far-fetched. Who knows, maybe we’ll see Drive-Thru charging stations next!