Sibu now has not just one but two DC chargers. The availability of these new chargers makes it more feasible to drive an EV from Kuching to Miri, since Sibu is located in the central region of Sarawak.
Prior to this, there were only two public 22kW AC charge points deployed by ChargEV, which are currently still available for free to the public. These free AC charge points are located at Wisma Sanyan basement carpark and at SESCO office at Jalan Deshon Timur.
60kW DC Charger at Proton e.MAS Sibu
One of the first DC chargers in Sibu is located at the Proton e.MAS Sibu showroom at Jalan Oya, managed by Ngu Motor. This Proton EV dealership has a 60kW DC Charger with two CCS2 nozzles. The charger is currently priced at RM1.20 per kWh.
Take note that this location is gated and the charger is only accessible during its business hours. The Proton e.MAS Sibu sales and service centre is open from 8am to 7pm on Monday to Saturday, and from 10am to 5pm on Sunday.
To activate these charger, you’ll need to use the RExharge app. If you’re using the Proton e.MAS 7, you can activate the charger directly from the Proton e.MAS app since RExharge is among the supported CPOs that has been integrated into Pro-Net’s charging ecosystem.
60kW DC Charger at Kingwood Hotel Sibu
The next DC Charger location in Sibu is at Kingwood Hotel. JomCharge has deployed a 60kW DC Charger with two CCS2 nozzles and this charger can be activated via JomCharge, Setel, Gentari Go and ChargEV app.
Unlike other chargers that uses kWh-based pricing, this charger adopts a time-based pricing of RM1.40 per minute. This means a 30-minute charge would cost you RM42.
Assuming if you’re the only EV plugged in and you’re getting the maximum 60kW charging rate, that’s equivalent to about RM1.40 per kWh. However, if two EVs are charging at the same time, the time-based pricing won’t make much sense as you’ll be getting half the charging speed but still pay the same RM1.40 per minute rate.
While Pan Borneo Highway is almost fully completed on the Sarawak side, EV charging infrastructure in Sarawak is still severely lacking compared to West Malaysia. Deployment of DC chargers are still required to facilitate long distance travel in the state.
Two years ago, Gentari, Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) and SEDC Energy have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to develop the EV charging infrastructure in the state. Following the signing, the first EV charging hub by Gentari and Sarawak Energy was deployed in ICOM Square in Kuching back in September 2023.
At the time of launch, Sarawak Energy Group CEO Datu Haji Sharbini Suhaili said that the deployment of its first public EV charger marks the beginning of their commitment to build a network of EV chargers connecting major towns and cities, and crossing the Pan Borneo Highway for an anxiety-free journey.
It is worth noting that Sarawak has the cheapest and greenest electricity in Malaysia. Unlike Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in West Malaysia still relies mostly on fossil fuel for power generation, over 60% of total electricity generation capacity in Sarawak comes from hydropower plants. In addition, the highest domestic tariff in Sarawak is only 31.5 sen per kWh for usage above 1300kWh, versus the highest TNB domestic tariff rate of 57.1 sen per kWh for 901kWh onwards.
