In an earlier report on the NanoMalaysia Energy Storage Technology Initiative (NESTI) programme, it was mentioned by the ministry of science, technology and innovation (MOSTI) that the Enabling Mobility Electrification for Green Economy (EMERGE) programme by NanoMalaysia has received funding from the Strategic Research Fund under the Malaysia Grand Challenge.
One of the initiatives under EMERGE is the Rapid Electric Vehicles Innovation Validation Ecosystem (REVIVE), which was created to focus on the “conversion of regular engines to electric engines.” The Bernama report didn’t provide additional information on this specific matter, but it can be assumed that this involves converting cars that use an internal combustion engine (ICE) to feature a fully electric drive system instead.
As we discovered previously, this isn’t something that the road transport department (JPJ) allows under Section 6(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 as well as Rule 9B of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Rules 1959.
To recap, under the Road Transport Act 1987, Section 6(1) states that it is unlawful (i.e., illegal) to use a motor vehicle which “does not comply with the rules as to construction, weight, equipment, use and age applicable to the class or description of motor vehicle to which such motor vehicle belongs.”
This is pretty straightforward, as it means if your car doesn’t conform to its original specification, it can’t be used on public roads. However, the department can provide authorisation to cars that are built for special purposes like testing, which is something we’ve seen in the past like EV Innovations’ MyKar that is based on a Honda Jazz.
Meanwhile, Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Rules 1959, which received a revision in the form of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Rules 2011, saw the addition of rules 9A and 9B. These state that a motor vehicle cannot be constructed unless it has received prior approval of the director general. Again, it’s pretty direct, indicating you can’t build a car on your own unless you have been given the approval to do so.
This includes electric motor vehicles that must meet certain specifications when it comes to the type of battery and electrical wiring system used and their installation – electric motorcycles must meet the MS 2413 specification as well. Other requirements for an electric motor vehicle include bearing a clear, distinct and untampered motor serial number and chassis number; have a maximum design speed exceeding 50 km/h; and have a climbing capability exceeding 20% gradient.
With the slight exception mentioned above, the general public can’t simply put an electric motor into their existing ICE cars and drive them on public roads. However, could the REVIVE initiative we talked about at the start pave the way for EV conversions of ICE cars to be legalised in Malaysia?
This could be a reality, although it will certainly require government bodies to work together and establish necessary standards for such conversions as well as rule amendments. A proper way to validate ICE cars that have been converted to EVs is also important, given that EVs run on high-voltage systems and require critical safeguards in the event of an accident.
Realistically, converting an ICE car to become an EV requires a lot of development work and resources to ensure standards are met. This won’t be something that the average car owner is capable of, but companies set up specifically and certified to carry out these conversions are feasible.
Outside Malaysia, there are companies that specialise in providing such services such as London Electric Cars and Lunaz Design, just to name a few. The Thailand government even considered converting used cars into EVs through the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), while Indonesia has began a pilot project converting ICE motorcycles to electric power earlier this year.
Depending on the impact of the REVIVE initiative, there could come a day where you can bring your ICE car to an approved company and have it converted to run on electric power. What are your thoughts on this? Is this something worth exploring to promote the adoption of EVs in Malaysia?
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The EV ownership culture should not begin only with the purchase of factory built EVs, but also with the conversion of old ICE vehicles to electric power. At least, such conversions will give the technically inclined more educational & career opportunities.
Unlike in First World countries where workshops are regulated and mechanics are professionally trained, expensive they may be, here would you put your life for a bawah pokok pomen to convert it? Do remember these EV are dealing with huge KW of DC electric power which is fatal. There must be certain standards for conversion and must be done at JPJ approved workshops and by certified installers.
Alan, you’re the one who first mentioned about under-the-tree-mechanics over here, not me.
If EV conversions are allowed in Malaysia, there will be local companies that offer such services after obtaining the necessary approvals, and then wouldn’t there be job opportunities for those who are interested in this ‘new’ line of business?
In well regulated countries there are no such things as bawah pokok pomen. If authorities allows it, who to stop an unlicensed pomen from offering superduper cheap conversions vs a proper job done at authorised centers? Don’t kid yourself, we live in Malaysia not UK. Things that are doable in UK could be dangerous to us, like going around in crowded places without facemask.
Alan, the first comment I’ve posted here for this news article does not mention ‘bawah pokok pomen’ and yet you some how think that I would have a ‘bawah pokok pomen’ do an EV conversion. Please share with the other readers here on how you had come to such a conclusion.
You presume [quote: such conversions will give the technically inclined more educational & career opportunities] much the same way one would presume tint installers & accessories shops [will give the technically inclined more educational & career opportunities].
Alan, so it’s clear that your perception of more educational & career opportunities for the technically inclined is limited to the ‘bawah pokok pomen’, tint installers & accessories shops. Good luck.
Imho converting old ICE cars to EVs on a large scale is another one of those ideas which sounds good in theory, but terrible in practice. Just like solar powered cars.
For regular cars, the cost of converting, safety testing and re-homologating will probably exceed the value of the car itself. It only makes sense for those classic and collectible cars, which are rare or worth millions… most of them are just for show and rarely driven anwyays.
However, ICE-to-EV conversion might still be possible in the future, but only if manufacturers are forced to future-proof their new ICE cars with the option for EV conversion later on. But then all customers have to subsidize the cost for the few which actually care enough or have the money to upgrade in another 5 or 10 years.
Imho the best future-proof solution for old ICE cars is still going to be biofuels of some sort. Most ICE engines since the 1980s can be tuned or modified to accept at least 5 percent ethanol blend. Even Proton’s old CamPro was tuned to accept E20 biofuel (20% ethanol, 80% petrol) in Thailand. Malaysia has ample palm oil production for biofuel, and since the EU is trying to ban palm oil…
Anyway imho, in the near term it’s better if governments could invest in cleaner and more sustainably-sourced biofuels, in conjunction with incentives for new xEVs and Euro 6 engines, as opposed to ICE-to-EV conversions or banning ICEs altogether… the ultimate priority should be making the national electricity grid more carbon neutral (while also minimizing environmental impact). Because what’s the point in converting to EVs at all, if most of our electricity keeps coming from hydrocarbons anyway…
Don’t confuse ethanol with palm oil, ethanol are produced from sugary plants ie corn or sugarcane, whereas palm oil are used in biodiesel but not petrol blend.
Osem! Thinking to convert my 89′ Mitsubishi FTO,
If the cost and safety to change ICE engine into electric is about RM7000 to RM10000, why not?
Users can save more.
Your petrol cost in the car lifetime won’t eat up RM7000-10000, so how does it save for users?
It’s not only fuel costs. There’s also repair/maintenance costs for the old IC engine due to wear and tear.
A typical B segment car servicing & spares for 10 years would still not eat up that high PLUS petrol. And you still haven’t factor in battery replacement by the time you reach 10 years. Another downside to EV.
If the old internal combustion engines, like the ones in the classic Mini or the old 1st gen Range Rover pictured in the article above, are getting more difficult & costly to repair & maintain, EV conversion can be an attractive alternative to the owners, especially if the condition of the body and chassis is still OK. Cost wise would depend on the owners’ own comparisons with the cost of replacing their old vehicles with newer internal combustion engine powered vehicles or new electric powered vehicles.
Old cars are inherently unsafe for usage, having outmoded crashworthiness and best be preserved as is, modern ICE engines are built to last, 10 years is nothing in terms of cost for maintenance as nearly all makers have cost estimated for a 10 year usage and these are made known to public. Whatever saved in petrol will be put back to replace an EV battery and what about the disposal of used ones. No discussion seem to care about this elephant.
If you think old cars are unsafe and EVs are not worth the money, then it’s your decision not to own them.
Wow looks like my comment earlier became a whole article
https://paultan.org/2021/10/21/malaysia-government-enhance-ev-tech-development-nesti-programme/#comment-5090275
the only thing being converted here is the fund from government to the company pocket. if simple Joe like me put up this proposal for Perodua Kancil tooling kit to produce EV, I was shown the door.
EV is something like a kit car conversion back in state. your electrician can fix car instead of fixing the fuse box in your house. the mechanic still have their value in other parts of the car.
See local car company, still want 6 months/10000km service schedule for an EV is beyond me.
go EV, save money.
ban hybrid, pay so much for battery tech just to service the gas engine periodically