Road tripping with an EV requires a bit more mental fortitude and patience, relative to a typical ICE car.
So a little while ago, this writer had returned from a rather excellent weekend road trip to Ipoh. And while he will spare you from his many holiday snaps, there was nevertheless one particular incident he witnessed during the trip that should be noted by those planning to balik kampung this Hari Raya with their EV.
While refuelling his petrol-powered car at the Simpang Pulai Shell station, he noticed that the BYD Seal, which had earlier blasted past him on the highway, was parked at an awkward angle just ahead of the Shell Recharge charging bay. And even after he finished topping up his Subaru’s rather massive fuel tank, the fully electric sedan remained stuck there—without a charging cable attached.
Curious to understand the situation better (and totally not because he was feeling smug about finishing refueling before the BYD could even begin charging), he casually walked past under the pretext of heading to the toilet. He then discovered that the BYD Seal owner was struggling to get the ParkEasy app to lower the barrier required to park the car into the charging bay. He then further overheard the owner of the Dongfeng Box next to it say that the charging app in question doesn’t really work when it is raining (which it was at the time), and that the Seal owner just has to continuously retry until the barrier hopefully eventually lowers…
Now, the reason this writer is sharing this story this story is not to gloat about how he could refuel a massive petrol tank in less time than it takes for an EV to charge (although he was rather smug to see the BYD that once overtook him still stuck there as he drove out of the station). Instead, the point is to emphasise that road tripping in an EV still requires that little bit more forward planning and mental resilience than what many are used to with ICE-powered cars.
And this isn’t just about the physical preparations one should ideally make before setting off on a long EV trip — such as scouting out charging stations along the route, downloading the necessary charging apps (logging in and pairing them with a credit card beforehand) — but also mentally preparing for the challenges that will likely arise. More often than not, these challenges will test the patience of motorists, especially those who were previously accustomed to the conveniences of petrol-powered cars.
These challenges aren’t limited to the technological hiccups of public charging, as exemplified above, but also include potential long waits at the limited charging bays along interstate highways during the festive travel period. This is especially relevant given the steady rise in EV adoption in Malaysia, with many new owners likely taking this Hari Raya season as an opportunity to balik kampung and show off their futuristic rides.
For those who are taking their first-ever road trip this Hari Raya with their new EV too, it is probably worth mentally preparing to see the range readout drop faster than what one might have returned when pootling around town (and be no where close to what was promoted in the brochure). Consistent high speed travel does predictably use up more energy after all, and thus it should also go without saying here that those who wishes to drive at their had laju kebangaan should either go easy on the (proverbial) gas, or be prepared check out more of Malaysia’s highway R&Rs.
Also one final main thing worth highlighting to EV road tripping first-timers is to be prepared for what will likely be a bigger “fuel” bill than what one might expect when previously performing the same trip with their petrol-powered car. Such is as the cost of public EV charging, especially the higher-powered DC chargers along the interstate, is really not cheap.
Now, this writer can’t speak for all EVs (and he admittedly does have a heavier foot than most motorists), but based on his experience from several interstate EV trips, a good rule of thumb is that charging costs are typically double what it would cost to cover the same trip in a conventional car running on subsidised RON 95 petrol.
Letting everyone in on a bit of inside baseball at the end too: initially, this writer had considered taking the BYD Seal Premium — one of the longest-range EVs available in Malaysia — for his recent Ipoh trip to demonstrate how easy (or not) it is to embark on an impromptu EV road trip these days. However, upon advice from a colleague who had previously driven that very car and managed only around half the quoted CLTC range of 650 km, he decided to skip the potential headache and instead opted for something a little more petrol-powered as his chariot of choice for a trouble-free weekend getaway. Just a casual FYI…
