Electric Scooter soon in Sabah

Quite recently I posted an article about Toyota's effort to encourage the use of clean vehicles in Japan, in particular electric vehicles.

The electric vehicle is called i-Road and rent starts at 200 Yen (about RM6.60) for the first 10 minutes then 20 Yen for every minute after that. Renting the car for an hour would cost 1,200 Yen (US$12) or about RM40.

With a similar idea, a local electric vehicle company has introduced its environmentally friendly Electric Scooter or e-Scooter to the public.


Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Datuk Ewon Ebin (right) taking a test ride on the e-Scooter.


Coming soon to Sabah

EcLiMO Sdn Bhd, a peninsula-based company will be expanding its business to Sabah in the near future and introducing the electric vehicle to consumers here.

The company invested RM27 million in the EV project and currently, it has leased 600 units of its e-Scooter to several fast food chain outlets such  as KFC, McDonald's and Pizza Hut among others for them to use in their daily dealings.

Electric vehicle   : ECLIMO ES11
Motor power       : 5 kW max
Transmission      : 100% direct drive (zero loss)

Energy  storage  : Lithium battery

Charging time     : 3 hours to fully charge
Max. Speed        : 80 km/h

Distance range   : up to 100 km per full charge

TheGreenMechanics: The idea is not new. During our trip to Shanghai last year a lot of the city dwellers use electric bikes and bicycles to commute and one can see thousands of them parked by the roadside.

Maybe it is not our idea of commuting here in Malaysia.

Commercial electric vehicles pioneer, GreenWay hit new landmark

One of the reasons people are slow in adopting or using electric vehicles (EV) is that the charging infrastructure does not come with the vehicle. Typical EV can travel only around 300 km before needing a recharge.

Also, the time needed to fully recharge can be as long as 3 hours. Add these things together and you get a hassleful experience of owning a vehicle.

What if you don't need to recharge but just swap the drained battery at any of the recharging points? And, on top of that you are given the option to lease rather than purchasing the vehicle.

This is exactly what Slovakia's EV pioneer GreenWay is offering to consumers particularly commercial entities.  And GreenWay said it has achieved another milestone in terms of number of miles travelled for the past 6 months which is the world's furthest.


Electric vehicle leasing company GreenWay operates a string of charging stations in Slovakia and neighbouring countries. Photo credit: GreenWay


Leased electric vehicle travelled over 38,000 km a month, more than any other EVs in the world

Slovakian commercial electric vehicle pioneer GreenWay claims the two vans it leased to its first customer in May have since travelled further in a six-month period than any other electric vehicles.

GreenWay, which supplies fully electric vans for business-to-business (B2B) customers in return for a monthly fee, says the vans it leased to pharmaceuticals and medical supplies company Med-art travelled an average of 38,502 km – the equivalent of a round-the-world trip – in six months.

The EV company operates a string of battery replacement stations ensuring drained batteries can be replaced instantly rather than having to be recharged to keep vehicles on the move.

GreenWay says Med-art reported the running costs of its EVs were 'significantly lower' than those of its conventional vehicles because of the long distances travelled – one of the reasons GreenWay targets B2B clients with its 40,000 km and 70,000 km packages.

Med-art also reported no interruption to vehicle availability during the six-month period, proving the vans' reliability, according to GreenWay.

According to GreenWay's website, there are 10 battery changing stations across Slovakia as well as in Budapest, Hungary; Brno, in the Czech Republic; and Vleden, Austria, with a further six Slovakian locations in the pipeline.


TheGreenMechanics: If you think that using electric vehicle is not viable yet, leasing maybe a good start. Leasing will hedge you against the risk of inability to make full use of the vehicle due to slow adaptation and lack of infrastructure. Good for commercial use.

Question is, who will want to start that venture in Malaysia.


Source: pv-magazine