On the 29th of January 2019, Route Hunters Malaysia attended the unveiling of 6 new i Charging stations at the Bangsar Shopping Centre. This adds to the existing set of i Charging stations that are already in existence in Penang, Melaka and Ipoh. With plug-in hybrids making up nearly 7500 out of 14,338 cars sold by BMW Group Malaysia last year, its little wonder why BMW is pushing more i Charging facilities nationwide.
While its handy for BMW Plug-in Hybrid owners, how is it relevant news for the rest of us? Here’s 3 reason why this 6 charging station is significant to every other motorists, especially continental car owners.
Made by the guys who are pushing electrification of Malaysia
All the i charging stations in Malaysia are set up by BMW Group Malaysia in corporation with GreenTech Malaysia, an organization under the purview of the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology , Environment & Climate Change (try squeezing that in a name card). These guys are already working with the likes of Volvo, Mercedes Benz and of course BMW to push the infrastructure for more low carbon mobility solutions.
A brief glance on their site shows some ambitious numbers on charging stations setup in the coming years. If this is to be true, then you could really exploit the true benefit of having a plug-in hybrid vehicle fully in this country.
Upping the ante from rivals
This is where BMW Group Malaysia seems to have the edge over its rivals. We experienced its plug in hybrid tech when we tested the BMW 740Le with Karamjit Singh a couple of months ago. While the electric boost was handy at acceleration, it quickly depleted in our cross country trip. Had there been a charging station in Raub though, it would have been a different experience altogether.
BMW Group Malaysia’s plan for its i Charging facility seems to be the answer to the issue we faced during that drive, on theory at least. Hopefully we would be able to find a charging station even in the deepest parts of the Malaysian back roads in 2 years time. We should know best, these are the type of routes we crave for.
You have no other choice
Britain and the EU are gearing towards zero carbon emission vehicles in years to come. Their 2020 / 2021 target for CO2 emissions is a mere 95g CO2/km. A Kia Picanto puts out 119g/km of CO2, and that car only has a 1.25 liter engine.
With diesel car falling out of favor of the emissions watchdogs (a moment of silence), there’s a high demand for Plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles in the EU. Safe to say that in the coming year’s pretty much most, for Continental car brands at least, passenger cars will feature some form of either hybrid or full electric powertrain systems. And when that happens, a charging station is no longer a novelty, it’s a necessity. At least BMW has got the right idea and is already ahead of the curve to cater to its customers.
Electrification of cars are here to stay. Some enthusiasts may be up in arms about electric cars but we suggest you come to peace with it because just like fuel injection, electric power steering, and electric handbrakes, this tech is here to stay. Who knows, it could be huge fun? After all, the i8 is also a Plug-in Hybrid right?
