To make EV charging on your next road trip up north a breeze, Shell and Porsche come together to bring you high-performance charging (HPC) stations across Malaysia this year. And some added perks too.
Imagine driving from Singapore to Malaysia, or maybe even to Bangkok… all in an EV.
“Pffft! That’s a pipe-dream!” you may say.
Well, though seemingly true now, it won’t be a dream for much longer. The operational start of Shell’s first high-performance charging (HPC) station in Tangkak, Johor spearheads the upcoming construction of 10 more HPC charge points in five stations over the course of this year.
These will be located across the N-S Expressway in places including Seremban, Negeri Sembilan in Phase 1, Seremban again and Jalan Ayer Hitam, Johor in Phase 2, and in Simpang Pulai and Tapah, Perak in Phase 3.
Each of these charging stations will feature high-performance direct-current (DC) chargers that will allow a single EV to charge at up to 180kW, or two EVs at up to 90kW.
Either way, these charging speeds are faster than EV chargers available in Singapore. The most common high speed chargers found locally are rated at 50kW DC from SP Group, though there are a handful of 100kW chargers available mainly to taxi operators.
While Tesla has its proprietary Supercharger network available at a handful of locations locally (with claims of offering “up to 250kW”), it’s yet to be seen if this speed is actually supported in Singapore.
So for now, the Shell HPC network seems to be the fastest in the region. This speed would already max out the charging capabilities of the majority of EVs sold locally which range from 100kW to 150kW.
Shell’s project partner, Porsche however, would be capable of utilitising the full 180kW capability as its Taycan models are capable of up to 270kW of charging. At that rate, just 5 minutes of charging would be sufficient to provide a 100km range.
With Shell’s HPC, a Taycan can charge its battery from nought to 80% in about 30 minutes, adding around 390km of range. That said, other EVs will also be able to take advantage of these HPCs as long as they have higher-capacity charging capabilities on-board.
the driving force behind it.
So what was the main driving force for both brands to come together in developing the HPC?
“Decarbonisation is a global challenge that requires broad-reaching, multi-faceted solutions. Our partnership with Porsche in meeting the needs of EV customers today is an important initiative under our Powering Progress strategy to achieve our goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Together with Porsche, we’ll be working to improve the EV charging experience along a key travel artery connecting three countries in the region,” said Amr Adel, Senior Vice President, Mobility – East, Shell.
Echoing these views, Dr Henrik Dreier, Director New Business Fields, Porsche Asia Pacific also noted Porsche’s commitment to pursue a carbon neutral balance sheet across their value chain by 2030.
Commenting on their partnership, he noted, “Our partnership with Shell is a result of well-aligned sustainability objectives and will further supplement our range of charging solutions for electric vehicle owners, with specific benefits accorded to Porsche owners.”
He also highlighted how the vision of long-distance, cross-border emissions-free travel was now made a reality thanks to the HPC.
EV charging aside, there are more things to look forward to too.
Apart from these developments, Shell will also be offering a subscription plan called Shell Recharge HPC. Through it, all Malaysian EV customers who register for Shell Recharge Gold subscription plan, will enjoy a 40% discount rate for the first 10 hours per year, or RM 12 per 5 minutes for the first 25 minutes. Pay-Per-Use users will pay RM 20 for every 5 minutes of stay.
Additionally, Porsche Taycan owners will be automatically registered as Platinum members as part of the partnership program, entitling them to value-added benefits from Shell in both Singapore and Malaysia . They will receive an exclusive discount of SGD 0.10 / kWh off the prevailing retail rate in Singapore, beginning 16 February 2022. In Malaysia, they will be entitled a 50% discount rate for the first 12 hours per year.
Furthermore, these HPCs will also be tied to Shell’s ParkEasy app in Malaysia and Shell-Greenlots app in Singapore to allow users to reserve the HPC parking bay up to an hour in advance, and connect to a large network of public and private charge points including 18 Shell Recharge rapid charge-points respectively.
Moving further into the future, HPCs are also planned for Thailand to enable EV owners to drive right up to Bangkok.
We’re glad both brands are giving us more electrifying reasons to look forward to the borders reopening again!
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