The popularity of electric vehicles (EV) is on the rise in Sabah as more and more people are becoming aware of its cost saving possibilities.

CEO of FM by Falida, Syed Faiz, said that a fully charged EV can travel about 400km and this means saving on fuel expenses.

“An EV, fully charged, can go about 400km, so imagine the amount of money that you can save on fuel. Also an EV has less moving parts which means less maintenance cost too.

“When we first launched the FM by Falida last year with the Tesla, we never expected to have such a following and currently we have 50 orders for Tesla and I can see the numbers doubling in the near future.

“I personally think that there are a lot of EV enthusiasts out there who understand that using the electric vehicle is not only for environmental reasons, but also the fact that they can save a lot on maintenance and fuel cost,” he said.

Syed Faiz who was met at the ‘Sabah EV charging stations rollout’ briefing here on Monday, said that people like EVs because the vehicles are very futuristic.

Though currently EVs are considered a status symbol because of the price, efforts have been put in place to bring in cheaper brands into the country.

The government is also helping to push car makers to bring the cost down either by setting up assembly plants in Malaysia or importing cheaper ones.

Syed Faiz when asked about the charging station, explained that it is to create awareness about the importance of setting up the infrastructure in Sabah.

There is currently only one charging station in Sabah and FM by Falida wants to work towards having more of the infrastructure in anticipation of the increase of EVs.

“In an ideal situation there should be a charging station every 50km. but it has to be a push from the government and private sector to start the initiative to set up the infrastructure. On our side, we are the private sector and we want to create awareness, we want to beat the drum as loudly as possible to tell that we are bringing in the infrastructure,” he said.

According to him as the cost of setting up a charging station is high, it would be good to see the state government step up and assist like what is being done in Sarawak which has started to invent their own EV.

“It is good for the government to come up with a blueprint or roadmap on the matter as the private sector and the government needs to work together on this,” he said, adding that maybe the Kota Kinabalu City Hall can jump on the bandwagon and consider setting up charging stations throughout the state capital.

“2023 will be a very exciting year for EV not only in cars themselves but also other initiatives,” he opined.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by BORNEO POST ONLINE

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