This year's automotive technology news is dominated by electric vehicles and the infrastructure that supports them in Malaysia. It is clear that the era of electric vehicles in Malaysia starts with the right step. This is a list of the 10 most interesting automotive technology news throughout 2022.
1. EV Vehicle Chargers in Malaysia are Increasingly Widespread
The use of electric vehicles will increase as a catalyst from now on but among the complaints of early BEV users in Malaysia is the lack of charging stations. Petronas, TNB and Shell started efforts to fill this need.
Petronas through its subsidiary Gentari is seen to be quite active in building new electric vehicle charging sites. At X Park Sunway Serene, Southeast Asia's first 350kW charger opened today with it also charging per kW instead of minutes like other chargers. With various incentives for electric vehicles and chargers announced by the government in Budget 2023, the future of EVs in Malaysia looks exciting.
2. Toll Plaza Lanes Proposed to Support All Types of Payments, Not Segregated or Restricted
Now a proposal has been presented to the Malaysian Highways Authority, where all toll plazas in the Klang Valley are asked to integrate all types of payments and not be segregated or restricted by lane. This is in an effort to avoid congestion in the city, especially during peak hours.
Today, toll plazas are segregated by lane, including physical card only, SmartTAG only, RFID only, as well as a combination of the two. This at the same time makes vehicles going to a toll plaza change lanes, leading to congestion and so on.
This proposal was brought by the Ministry of Federal Territories to the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM), and asked to be discussed with the highway providers involved. For now it is still at the proposal stage, and needs to go through various phases before it can be fully implemented.
3. Automotive High Technology Valley (AHTV) in Tanjung Malim
Electric vehicle technology is developing rapidly now with electric bus operations already underway in Kuala Lumpur and several fast charging stations being built by Shell. To ensure that the country's automotive industry is not left behind, the Automotive High Technology Valley (AHTV) was launched in Tanjung Malim in April by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri.
When fully operational later, AHTV will become the national electric vehicle development hub with the aim of making it a hub for the Southeast Asian region. It is expected to create 370,000 job opportunities during construction and 160,000 job opportunities when operational.
4. Proton Aims To Introduce Electric Cars By 2027
Proton shared plans to introduce their electric cars in the market by 2027 last November. Previously, Proton was ready to show several prototype cars, concepts and developments in the arena of electric vehicles. Many local consumers are looking forward to the offer of electric cars from Proton in Malaysia.
With the start of commercial involvement starting next year, we may see Proton provide various infrastructure related to electric vehicle charging – before launching its own electric vehicle in another five years. It is hoped that it is an electric car designed entirely by natives rather than just changing the logo and only CKD installed by natives.
5. Mercedes EQXX Now Successfully Moves Over 1200 km on a Single Charge
The Mercedes EQXX electric concept car managed to travel 1008 km on a single charge in March this year. This amazing record was achieved with a battery under 100 kWh and is significantly better than a Tesla Model S with almost the same battery capacity.
Now in its second test from Stuttgart to the Silverstone racetrack, the same EQXX recorded a distance of 1202 km on a single charge. The vehicle drives for 14.5 hours before running out of battery. In the tests carried out the vehicle recorded an average speed of 83 km/h with the air conditioning system used for 8 hours.
The success of the EQXX opens up space for battery-powered electric cars that can record travel distances comparable to electric-powered cars. With charging infrastructure still inadequate, vehicles that can go further are urgently needed.
6. Sony And Honda Work Together To Form An Electric Vehicle Company
In March Sony and Honda announced a partnership to make the EV business a success. Then in June Sony Honda Mobility Inc. is established with the production of the first vehicle occurring as early as 2025 with it equipped with a PlayStation console.
The holding of the company is 50:50 between the two companies. Sony will provide expertise in imaging, sensors, telecommunications, networking, and other technologies. Honda will share expertise in environmental technology, safety, vehicle development, vehicle body design, and also post-sales management experience.
7. Lightyear 0 Only Needs Sunlight To Move 70 km A Day
Lightyear 0 was shown in June as an electric car that does not require any conventional charging. With a solar panel of 5 square meters on the surface of the body, the manufacturer Lightyear 0 claims that it is enough to supply power to travel up to 70 kilometers a day.
High performance is achieved because the Lightyear 0 is one of the most aerodynamic cars ever produced to reduce air resistance. It replaces the side mirror directly with a camera with an LCD screen placed in the cockpit instead.
The 60 kWh battery has been tested to provide an operating range of up to 625 km on a single charge using the WLTP standard at an average speed of 110 km/h. Only 946 Lightyear 0 will be offered to customers with each being sold for €250,000 (~RM 1.16 million) with production starting a few weeks ago.
8. BMW And Mercedes Charge Monthly Subscriptions For Additional Vehicle Features
Mercedes Benz
Nothing in the world is free. Now the goods that have been bought have to be bought and paid for again because the brand company wants to offer upgrades through software. This is the case with BMW and Mercedes. The automotive industry has already started microtransactions for their cars.
For BMW, among what they offer is seat heating, vehicle mapping system updates, high beam assistance, electric car racing sounds and much more at prices starting at around RM47.
Mercedes in turn offers this subscription feature to their EQS customers. This subscription is "Acceleration Increase", that is it allows the user to pay as much as $1200 a year to accelerate the car.
9. BMW iX Flow Can Change Color Quickly
The BMW iX Flow concept vehicle was shown at CES Las Vegas earlier this year with the vehicle's ability to change color from black to white almost instantly. To have the ability to change color from black to white quickly, BMW uses thousands of e-ink panels on the surface of the body of the BMW iX Flow.
It can be seen that triangular shaped e-ink panels are arranged on the surface of the car and also tire rims with millions of color capsules are also used. Therefore the color of each panel can be changed one by one. In other words certain patterns can be displayed in monochrome colors according to BWM's wishes.
10. Lexus Shows Manual Transmission For Electric Cars
Electric vehicles are easier to drive because they do not have gears that need to be changed and a regenerative braking system that does not require the foot pedal to be pressed. However, among automotive enthusiasts there are a few who refuse to move to BEV because they still want a manual transmission system for driving which is said to be more fun.
Lexus has shown a manual transmission system for electric cars. The project which was initially just a prototype got a good response during the tests. Therefore, Lexus is thinking seriously about offering this manual transmission system on their future electric vehicles.
The process of changing "gear" in this system is still the same through the switch knob as in existing vehicles. The vehicle is also equipped with a tachometer which is merely decorative but gives a signal to the driver to change gears when necessary. The test was conducted on a Lexus UX300e which is a BEV SUV.
Earlier this year Toyota, which is the parent company of Lexus, filed a patent for a manual transmission system for electric vehicles. It seems that post-patent is filed, actual components are developed to see their effectiveness in the real world.