Electric vehicles (EV) can now "fill up" at two Boustead Petroleum Marketing Sdn Bhd (BHPetrol) service stations in the Klang Valley for free.

The two BHPetrol kiosks providing the EV charging points are located at Kg Sungai Kayu Ara in Petaling Jaya and Sungai Besi Harmony (after the southbound toll plaza towards Seremban).

BHPetrol is considering installing more EV charging stations at key locations this year.

BHPetrol managing director Tan Kim Thiam hopes the effort would enhance the company brand appeal among EV owners by helping them benefit from the convenience.

He said the company would install EV charging points at more BHPetrol service stations in the future to cater to the demand.

"More EV charging stations will be introduced this year, most likely near to the highways, such as in Pagoh (Johor), Tapah (Perak), Sungai Dua (Penang), and Karak and Bentong (Pahang), to assist EV owners for emergency charging.

"We are still studying how the trend is. We think the timing is probably right at this moment to introduce this service," he told Bernama.

Tan said for this project, BHPetrol was collaborating with First Energy Networks Sdn Bhd, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tan Chong Group (TCG), which provided the EV charging infrastructure and system.

Besides Nissan Leaf, distributed by TCG, the BHPetrol's EV charging station equipped with 22kW Fast Charger also caters to other EV brands and models such as Renault Zoe, Renault Twizy, Volvo XC90 and BMW i8, as demonstrated during the launching event held at BHPetrol at Kg Sungai Kayu Ara in Petaling Jaya today.

Tan said BHPetrol Group, which has 360 service stations throughout Peninsular Malaysia, has set aside RM50 million for capital expenditure this year, to add 10 to 15 more stations in the country.

Meanwhile, TCG director Nicholas Tan Chye Seng said the cost of building the two EV charging systems was RM80,000.

"We want to encourage more people to drive EVs. Monetisation at this moment is quite difficult. Our aim is first to improve the adoptions," he said.

In the quest to spur transition to EVs, he said TCG might introduce an App for an interactive map to make it easier for customers to locate the EV charging stations.

"We are having a non-exclusive arrangement with BHPetrol which means we can work with others as well," he added.

- Bernama