With demand for electric vehicles (EVs) set to grow in the coming future as a result of the government’s push to drive electrification forward, Sime Darby says it is aiming to ride that wave by having a significant presence in that space, and not just from a product viewpoint.
While its brands and dealerships from its automotive arm will be at the forefront of the evolving shift, the conglomerate is also intently looking at related areas of electro-mobility, The Star reports. According to Sime Darby CEO Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson, the group is taking a proactive approach to ramp up the EV ecosystem, and one of the aspects being explored is the possibility of it being a charging point operator.
“We are already in the business of supplying charging stations through our subsidiaries. We are hoping to get property developers to install charging stations at their projects. In addition, we are looking at becoming a charging stations operator, like petrol stations, throughout the country,” he said.
This would help address infrastructure-related issues such as the lack of charging points. However, he added that the idea is being mulled, and that the viability of such a business was still being explored. “We are not quite sure about the economics of that. We are looking to see if it makes sense for us to get involved in that game,” he explained.
The group has been actively ramping up activity on the electrification front over the past year. Last November, it announced that it had entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ecoride, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) joint venture between Perisind Samudra and GreenTech Malaysia, to explore business opportunities involving the procurement of EV fleets and aftersales services.
It has also invested heavily in mobility companies, pouring RM42 million into car-sharing service Socar and Singaporean online used car platform Carro, the latter having a presence in Malaysia via MyTukar. In December, Sime Darby announced that it had signed a MoU with Tenaga Nasional (TNB) to explore various initiatives to expedite the adoption of EVs in the country.
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