[Written in partnership with ChargeSini, but the editorial team had full control over the content.]
Just a couple of weeks ago, Tesla’s viral Cybertruck had pulled up in Kuala Lumpur, and the hype has been unreal. My timeline’s been plastered by photos and videos of sightings, showing off the edgy, futuristic car from all angles.
This just goes to show that electric vehicles (EVs) are definitely all the rage nowadays in Malaysia.
And crucial to this demand and increased adoption are EV charging point operations.
ChargeSini is one such operator in Malaysia. We’ve been following the homegrown startup for a while now, so here’s a look back on milestones it has achieved in the past two years, and what’s in store for the journey ahead.
July 2022: Starting up
ChargeSini got its start in 2022, established by founder James Goh and his team of co-founders.
An avid car enthusiast, James is also the a co-founder of Raytech window tinting and Caricarz, a vehicle re-commerce listing website for used cars.
Leveraging his past expertise, the “autopreneur” founded ChargeSini to contribute to the growth and development of Malaysia’s EV market.
October 2022: Beginning the charge
In October, ChargeSini broke ground with its first charging stations, charging up the business for the rest of its growth.
April 2023: Forming partnerships
Fast forward to the next year, the young company began forming strategic partnerships, starting by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sarawak-based e-payment tech company Pay&Go.
The agreement saw ChargeSini and Pay&Go mutually agreeing to collaborate towards boosting EV charging infrastructure.
The same month, ChargeSini also worked with British automotive brand MINI in Malaysia for a branding exercise, establishing the first MINI charging station at The Swan Garden Hotel Melaka.
May 2023: Bagging it up
In May 2023, ChargeSini successfully closed their equity crowdfunding round on pitchIN. The local EV charging solutions startup raised RM5.58 million from 74 investors.
At the time, co-founder Nick Leong told Vulcan Post that the fresh funds will be used to procure more EV chargers for the company—a claim that they certainly made good on.
September 2023: Venturing east
Later that year, ChargeSini commemorated the launch of their very first EV stations in Sabah. Specifically, they were located at Riverson The Walk, Kota Kinabalu.
This solidified ChargeSini’s dedication to ensuring every part of the country has access to EV charging stations.
In fact, in that third quarter of 2023, the startup managed to install a total of 162 new EV charging ports at 46 locations all over Malaysia.
October 2023: New partnerships
In October, ChargeSini signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mydin, the homegrown hypermarket chain all Malaysians know.
Under the MoU, ChargeSini aimed to set up a total of 24 EV charging stations at Mydin outlets nationwide.
Leveraging the established nature of Mydin, this collaboration worked to promote EV adoption across the country.
November 2023: Developing Sarawak
This month marked the launch of ChargeSini’s first EV stations in Sarawak, which is located at The Podium, Kuching.
December 2023: Ending the year strong
By the end of the year, ChargeSini boasted a total of 582 Charging Ports. Specifically, they had 464 AC chargers and 118 DC chargers to their name.
February 2024: Even more partnerships
Earlier this year, ChargeSini collaborated with Edotco.
For the uninitiated, Edotco is considered (by some) to be one of the three unicorn startups in Malaysia. Specifically, it’s an integrated next-gen connectivity infrastructure services company.
The goal with this partnership is to install EV charging stations at over 200 potential in-building locations nationwide in the next two years, further widening the network of chargers in Malaysia.
March 2024: A new way to grow
In March, ChargeSini revealed that it would be adopting a new business model through its “Project Partners”.
This initiative allows for individual investors to buy and own their own EV charging stations, making it a win-win situation for them as well as ChargeSini as they continue to grow.
In conjunction with this new initiative, ChargeSini also started raising its Series A, targeting to raise US$6 million within a timeframe of six months.
April 2024: Cross-country collaborations
By April this year, ChargeSini had already established its first EV station in Medan, marking its foray into Indonesia.
On top of that, ChargeSini announced a collaboration with Charge+, an established integrated EV charging solution provider for Singapore.
With this partnership, they are forming the largest Singapore-Malaysia EV charging network, with more than 2,400 points between the two countries.
By the end of this year, the two aim to increase this to a whopping 4,000 charging points, making them accessible to users of either platform as they travel across the Causeway.
And before wrapping up the month, ChargeSini also announced a collaboration with TELD New Energy Co Ltd, recognised as a leading EV charging point operator in China, with an impressive global network of 550,000 charging points.
Details of the partnership have not been revealed, but it marks an exciting foray into a broader market, signalling future collaborations between ChargeSini and TELD.
The future is all charged up
Just shy of two years old, ChargeSini has already accomplished quite a number of milestones, playing a part in accelerating Malaysia’s EV landscape.
And it’s definitely not stopping here.
Looking at its past achievements, it’s clear that a large part of ChargeSini’s growth is by way of collaboration. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a whole nation to grow a robust EV industry.
Thus, for the rest of 2024, ChargeSini aims to continue driving its growth through partnerships, continuing its EV installations with Mydin, while working with other companies such as Lotus’s, Econsave, and AEON.
They also have plans to work with governmental bodies such as the Penang Island City Council to propel EV charging too.
ChargeSini proudly shared that in 2025, plans in store include launching a new urban solution by the name of Energy Storage System (ESS), a 215kWh battery storage system designed for tasks like EV Charging, Peak Shift, Energy Backup, and Demand Response.
They added that they’re set to manufacture their own AC charger in Malaysia, handling the entire process from design to packing in-house.
With that, ChargeSini aims to have the largest EV charging hub in the country—an achievement we can’t wait to see happen.
Featured Image Credit: ChargeSini
