While many are sniggering (to put it lightly) at the latest gambit by the government – have you not heard of Malaysia’s upcoming flying car? – it’s easy to forget that another new car project is (supposed to be) brewing in the background. We are of course talking about the new national car project (NNCP), which by the way, has missed the timelines announced in October 2018.
Then, entrepreneur development minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof said that the NNCP will have its name announced by the end of 2018, with a prototype scheduled for early 2019, ahead of a 2020 roll out.
The vehicle is to feature semi-autonomous driving capability, and will be safe and cheap, we were told. Early this year, there was word that the identity of the company leading the NNCP would be announced on January 28, but that day passed by without any NNCP news.
The dates mentioned above have come and gone, and there’s no company, name or prototype to be seen. There is however a small update. According to Mohd Redzuan, who by the way also announced the flying car idea, the government is currently considering technology partnerships to develop the third national car. This is important to ensure the technologies chosen are appropriate and sustainable, Bernama reported.
“We have received many suggestions from various quarters, and we will shortlist each of them. This is not easy (to be decided on) because it needs to be discussed at the National Development Council level, and I expect us to reach a decision within this year,” he told reporters in Putrajaya yesterday.
According to the report, Mohd Redzuan said the government was currently focusing on making Malaysia an automobile manufacturing country, and that the government would focus on ‘Extended Range Vehicles’ for the NNCP as it was deemed more affordable.
No elaboration, but they could have probably meant range extender EVs, as opposed to full battery electric vehicles. Back in August 2018, before the official NNCP announcement, prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that Malaysia will be seeking assistance from Japanese automakers for the third national car project, and he name-dropped Nissan and Toyota then.
If ‘Extended Range Vehicles’ does indeed refer to range extender EVs, Nissan currently has such technology. The Nissan Note e-Power – on sale in Japan since late 2016 and displayed at KLIMS 2018; ETCM has indicated interest in the tech – is technically an EV, but there’s no socket for plug-in charging like the Nissan Leaf.
Instead, there’s a 79 PS/103 Nm 1.2 litre three-cylinder engine acting solely as a generator for the 109 PS/254 Nm electric motor from the previous Leaf. The petrol engine is not connected to the driven wheels, so this isn’t like the hybrids that we know. Nissan says that the e-Power system provides the benefits of an electric motor – such as maximum torque from standstill – without the accompanying range anxiety.
Nissan is also one of the more advanced carmakers when it comes to autonomous tech (read more on its ProPilot tech here) and “semi-autonomous” was mentioned in the NNCP announcement. So, could we be looking at a Nissan-backed third national car with e-Power and ProPilot tech?
GALLERY: Nissan Note e-Power at KLIMS 2018
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Will Nissan allow it? Will Tan Chong (their long time partner) allow it? Nothing is certain with Nissan and their management upheaval now.
Nissan’s relationship with Tan Chong have been fractured ever since they pulled back the Vietnam/Indochina Nissan franchise. Will this be the end of Tan Chong & Nissan long marriage?
Will this be the end of our resident troll who keeps talking non-stop nonsense about other carmakers?
The usual resident troll is YB Kunta Kinte who talk badmouth about Proton, Toyota, Mazda and other carmakers but let’s hope that usual troll (YB Kunta Kinte) will not be around in Paul tan in the future
they shld partner with toyota. use toyota technology, later confirm RV high! many people will buy wan
Your definition of so many people is limited to only 3,133 people.
Another rebadge national car brand incoming
already EV.
https://paultan.org/2014/10/14/proton-ev-2017-under-rm100k/
Talk till the end u still need partner la, it is just another p1 and p2, why u can’t accept the fact we need china ? Without china Geely Volvo is so far behind bmw and merc, but now they are catching up
Why dont you consider to have a joint venture with Tesla instead?
if this suppose to be a private endeavour, what the hell is the Gomen ‘considering tech partners for new national car’?
let the start up decide for them self la. unless its only meant to look like a private endeavour….
The real game changing national car! Proton already game over…
RECAP : A list of foreign car companies which have participated in our National Car projects (tangible projects only) ;
( PROTON )
Mitsubishi – (older Protons)
Lotus – (newer Protons)
Peugeot / Citroen – (Tiara)
Renault – (Savvy engine, Waja 1.8X)
Volvo – (Waja platform)
Honda – (CP Perdana)
Suzuki – (Ertiga)
Geely – (X70)
( PERODUA )
Daihatsu / Toyota – (every Perodua)
( NAZA )
Peugeot – (206 Bestari)
Kia – (Forte, Picanto, Carnival etc.)
Hafei – (Sutera / Forza)
( INOKOM )
Hyundai – (Lorimas)
Renault – (Permas)
( HICOM )
Isuzu – (Perkasa)
Feel free to add-on if I’ve missed anything (tangible).
As far as I can recall, Nissan has never participated in our National Car projects. The closest chance came when Proton wanted to rebadge the Nissan Fuga to replace the Perdana V6, but that plan fell through. However, Tan Chong’s parts division, APM has been a major vendor for Proton’s models, going back all the way to the 1985 Saga.
If Nissan becomes a partner for the NNCP, Tan Chong will be very, very happy indeed. No doubt.
This time, instead of calling it Proton, call it Neutron instead…, or since it is EV, Perhaps Electron is more appropriate.
This Mohd Redzuan guy clearly have no clue about R&D, Engineering or Production.
His announcements all like pluck from the sky.
Change him please.
Why is this guy so eager on the 3rd car project? I thought is MITI’s job this auto sector. Got too many entrepreneur already meh?
Oh god…..seriously …why nissan.. Why not a toyota
if i read the article correctly, prototype early 2019, & roll out 2020. so that means just 1year? Gila apa nak keluar kereta dlm masa setahun? obviously sapa yg plan ni knows nothing about automotive industry. unless u rebadge then its another story. To produce a car from scratch u need years
Why cant we actually come out with our own tech, our very own product, our very own NATIONAL CAR. Ini tak. Balik-balik rebadge, balik-balik rebadge. Same old same old. It’s almost as if they are showing that we, our local engineers, after all this years of experience in automobile industry are still incapable of making things our own.
It would be better if they just probably borrow the powertrain then everything else our own, just like other well succeeding car company when they borrow other company’s tech (eg: infinity-merc, toyota-bmw etc). Ini tak. Everything literally the same, as if tukar badge je. Shameful.
I hope they prove me wrong. For the sake of our country pls
I do remember in 2009 Lotus already has this technology way before Nissan. Using 1.2cc engine & can use ron95, ethanol & methanol. so this is the time use it
China is in the forefront of EV and EV technology. Even European car manufacturers are looking for partnerships there. Follow this route to save yourself a lot of heartache, time and money. It doesn’t pay trying to be clever.