The vehicle is estimated to provide an annual saving of 33% in servicing and in excess of 78% in daily fuel costs

by AZALEA AZUAR / pic UTUSAN MALAYSIA

QC FLEET Management Sdn Bhd has launched the first commercial electric van made available in the Malaysian market for sale and lease.

The DFSK EC35 electric van (EC35) offers leasing options between three to five years with the recommended sale price of RM130,000 (excluding registration and insurance).

It can be charged through a combined charging system connector which only takes 35 minutes for it to charge from 20% to 80% using a direct current (DC) rapid charger.

It can be fully charged within 35 minutes using a DC 40 kilowatt (kW) rapid charge whereas it takes between six to seven hours if used with an alternate current (AC) 6kW fast charge.

Compared to traditional petrol or diesel vans, the EC35 can still handle a payload of 1,090kg with zero carbon emissions and it is attractive to businesses due to its cost efficiency.

The vehicle is estimated to provide an annual saving of 33% in servicing and in excess of 78% in daily fuel costs while a per-charge battery provides for an expected 268km of Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure or 200km of city driving.

Since the government has exempted the import duty of all completely built up electric vehicles (EVs) for 2022 to 2023, the EC35 will also benefit from the government’s recent announcement on providing road tax exemption for EVs until 2025.

Customers are secured with a five-year 120,000km warranty on the powertrain.

According to QC Fleet MD Lim Khoon Ye, their range of EVs offers practical sustainable solutions for companies involved in the last-mile deliveries, light and service industries, as well as small and medium enterprises.

“Contrary to popular opinion, going green doesn’t have to be expensive. The EC35 provides companies a way to reduce their carbon footprint and operational cost at the same time,” he said in a statement.

DSFK MD Zhang Xinyang mentioned that a number of their products have penetrated into the German, French, Italian and Singaporean market which have become well-received.

“Here, I also look forward to combining effort with you all and our distributors, QC Fleet, Sunway Group and Go Auto Group of Cos to make EC35 the best-selling electric logistics vehicle in Malaysia.

“We also hope to gradually introduce more products from DFSK to bring more options for local customers,” he said during his pre-recorded speech during the launch.

On the other hand, the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) chairman Datuk Phang Ah Tong said the usage of EVs is not only increasing in Malaysia but worldwide where it has risen by 190% last year to 6.75 million.

“So, for Malaysia is estimated currently we have around 3,000 EVs, including electric motorbikes, cars and buses with more than only 500 EV charging station, but this is also AC not DC slow charging station are being used in Malaysia, which is considerable starting up awareness led to a higher number of early adopters in this new market,” he said during his speech.

Brands that have embraced the EV market are Porsche, Hyundai, Volvo and Mercedes Benz whereas Audi is also entering the market too.

Phang also highlighted that Malaysia does not have many DC charging stations as the cost of building them is very costly and hopes to provide incentives to companies to build them in order to meet the government’s aspirations.

“The government has set a target that by 2030, we should have 10,000 charging stations in the country with 9,000 AC and 1,000 DC with a target of one million EV cars which use battery and hybrid.