The idea of electric cars taking over the place of traditional cars in the Malaysian market has been toyed around for a couple of years. However, due to the lack of proper infrastructure and lavish price, the first mission of selling the electric vehicles with full exemption on import tax and excise tax met its setback a year ago.
Now, these cars are heading towards the market at full-speed with a new initiative; the electric car sharing programme called “Cohesive Mobility Solution” (COMOS). The concept is if you can’t buy it, you borrow it by the hour. This implementation will allow cars to have more than one user like a renting service, given that the renter is a member of the programme. This also provides flexibility for the users to use the car only as much as required of their daily needs.
What are Electric Vehicles (EV)?
Majority of the cars that cruise the roads are fitted in with traditional combustion engines that utilise petroleum. Electric cars, as the name indicates, use electricity from rechargeable electric packs instead of natural resources, making them more environmentally friendly. These electric vehicles are cleaner and at the same time, forgo much of the regular maintenance that traditional cars require.
COMOS Initiative
The vehicles that are made available to be rented are the modern, minimalist Renault Zoe, ultra-compact Renault Twizy and the super stylish Nissan Leaf. The first phase of the programme will commence in August in selected hot spots in Klang Valley with 30 to 40 EV made available. An additional 20 to 30 electric cars will be placed in Langkawi Islands in November once the first phase has proven to be in full operation. Then, the cities of Penang, Melaka and Johor Bahru will be introduced with more of such vehicles.
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The improvements in battery technology and charging facilities have been enhanced greatly as the plan comprises of EV charging providers, parking management operators, EV fleet operators as well as telecommunications network operators.
“We will start accepting membership in July,” said COMOS Executive Chairman, Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.
He also claims that the cars are affordable although it will not be cheaper than a taxi considering that the user has full control of the car.
Furthermore, renting the electric car is effortless as all the members need to do is make reservations using their smartphones upon which a special code will be given to them with the directions to the nearest stations with vacant cars. The aforementioned code unlocks the car and after using it, the car is to be parked in a designated parking bay under the programme.
COMOS programme seems to certainly go the extra mile in gaining widespread acceptance and popularity in the Malaysian market.
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