Malaysia’s First Electric Car Sharing Programme To Start In August
Malaysia’s first EV sharing service similar to the ones in Europe and the USA, known as Cohesive Mobility Solution (COMOS) was officially announced yesterday during a soft launch.
The programme, which is the result of an alliance between Malaysian Automotive Institute (MAI), CMS Consortium and Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (Greentech Malaysia) will begin in the Klang Valley and Langkawi in August and November this year, respectively.
“At start, 30-40 EVs will be introduced in the Klang Valley and 25 EVs will be made available in Langkawi in November along with 60 charging stations in these two places.
The number of EVs is expected to grow to 3,500 by year 2020 nationwide”, said ex-Proton managing director and COMOS’ executive chairman, Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin.
The company aims to expand its services to Melaka, Johor and Penang next year and all over Malaysia in the near future.
In order to use the EV car-sharing service, you first need to apply for the COMOS annual or weekly membership. Then you will have to make a reservation for the car through the company’s website or mobile app.
Once you arrive at the pick-up point, tap the membership card at the kiosk. Get into the car and key in your user pin code and then simply drive away.
You can return the car at any COMOS station by scanning your access card on the car to log out.
You will be charged on hourly basis. The rate per hour was not disclosed, but Syed Zainal stated that it will be affordable and “a little more than taxi fare”.
The exact rate is expected to be announced on COMOS website in a month’s time.
As for parking space, the company is currently working with DBKL to setup parking bays and charging stations at tourist areas, office buildings, universities, hotels and shopping malls.
COMOS’ idea is to have two parking bays for each car; therefore at launch, customers can expect 120 parking spots.
When COMOS rolls out in August, customers will have three choices of EVs to choose from – the Renault Zoe, Renault Twizy and Nissan Leaf.
The Twizy is a quadricyle that seats two, one behind the other like on a bike. It offers a maximum driving range of 100km on a single charge. Visit our previous post on the Renault Twizy for more information on this unique vehicle.
The fresh-faced Renault Zoe is an electrified version of the B-Segment Clio, with its own unique styling.
The official NEDC driving range stated by the French carmaker is 208km. And of course, the Nissan Leaf is no stranger to us. It is the size of a regular C-Segment hatchback and returns 195km NEDC range.
COMOS’ executive chairman stated that they are open to include electric vehicles, from other OEMs in the future, as long as they meet COMOS’ requirements.
This RM7 million electric car sharing project will earn its revenue not only from rentals but also through offering charging services for private EVs and the selling advertising space on their cars.
Individual EV owners can charge their vehicles at COMOS’ charging stations for a small fee.
As for advertising space sales, Syed Zainal mentioned that the company is currently in discussions with the government to offer incentives such as tax rebates for businesses that advertise with them.
Overall, this green initiative sounds very promising.
More information will be revealed as the project nears its scheduled roll-out in August. Stay tuned.
LLD
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