THE electric vehicle (EV) revolution is going on globally. We should follow the European Union (EU) nations that have undertaken massive drives in the industry, becoming the world's leading manufacturers of EVs.
In 2020, EU countries sold 1.4 million EVs compared with China's 1.3 million, including what is called garbage EV.
European EV sales have jumped 137 per cent despite the pandemic and that figure could reach 1.9 million this year as VW Group, Stellantis N, and BMW AG map out plans for new models and higher output, and Ford Motor C. and Volvo Cars commit to going almost all-electric.
Worldwide, EV sales have risen 43 per cent to over three million vehicles last year, while the global auto market was down by 20 per cent year-on-year overall. This growth also meant similar increases in the manufacturing of EV batteries, components, and software.
One of the major costs of EV manufacturing is the batteries, which is about 25 per cent of the total cost. The EU has provided financial support of at least €6.1 billion for the manufacturing of EV batteries.
Investment plans by EU countries' companies in the manufacturing of EV batteries for 2019 were estimated to be about €60 billion, triple compared to what has been spent by China.
EU, China and also Japan are investing so much money into EV, its batteries and components manufacturing because it was forecast that year-on-year growth of EV manufacturing would be between 35 and 45 per cent for the next 20 years.
It is for this reason, Indonesia, together with CATL and LG Chem, has taken to investing US$20 billion to manufacture EV batteries for the global market.
There is no other industry that comes close to that manufacturing growth. For that reason, almost all industrial countries and international investors, including many sovereign funds, are investing heavily into the EV industry.
Malaysia's attempt to get into the industry was the recently test-driven Mykar. But the company that builds Mykar said it was not going to manufacture the vehicle; it wanted to sell the technology on the local and international markets.
But what kind of technology are they selling? Is it autonomous driving technology or surround sensor technology or radar technology?
If it's just technology to convert an ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle into an EV, any mechanical or automotive engineer worth his salt with RM50,000 to spend can convert an ICE Myvi into electric.
All one needs to do is replace the ICE with a 30 kWh battery pack, an electric motor, and modification to the gear. All of these can be purchased off the shelf and done in any workshop. Furthermore, it was announced they signed an agreement with MARii to homologate Mykar.
As Mykar is not going into production why does it need to be homologated (a term for vehicle approval process)? Normally, a vehicle is homologated so that it can obtain certification from the authorities.
In Malaysia, the Road Transport Department Vehicle Type Approval is the authority for homologation before the registration process is done so that the vehicle can be driven on public roads.
It is time for us to think hard about participating in the EV industry. Otherwise, we will miss out on this global industry with the biggest growth record.
The writer is head of Innovative Electromobility Research Lab, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara