LETTERS: Apple, Google and Foxconn are giants in the information technology industry. They also invest billions of dollars in developing electric vehicles (EVs) for the global market.
The transition to the EV era has caused BMW, Daimler Benz and Honda to replace their top management with personnel who have expertise in the development and production of EVs for their companies.
Toyota is presenting an electric sports utility vehicle and sedan later this year. It has also announced plans to produce 10 types of EVs within the next five years.
Singapore will start producing EV sedans within the next 36 months.
Malaysia has not made any move to participate in this industry.
Now that major producers of EVs have committed to set up EV manufacturing plants in China, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, the only option for us, if we were to participate in this industry, is by creating and manufacturing our own EV.
I believe that we could produce an EV for the domestic and global markets within 36 months if the government wants to participate in this multi-billion-dollar industry.
After studying the proposal for EV manufacturing submitted to the Prime Minister's Department last year by Mimco Holding Sdn Bhd, a Bumiputera company that has 20 years of experience in designing and engineering of vehicles, I am certain it can produce running prototypes in six months with support from the government and start producing two types of EVs in 24 to 30 months.
Its mid-size SUV and sedan EV are designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, a genius in automotive designing. He has created more than 200 vehicles, with 60 million of these vehicles produced by many automotive giants.
Mimco vehicles are designed and engineered using light architecture and light weight body components built on its own advance modular platform, which is similar to the Volkswagen (VW) Group's modular electric-drive (MEB) platform.
The VW MEB platform is not only used by VW Group subsidiaries, such as Audi, SEAT, Skoda, VW and other brands, but also used under licence by Ford and other companies to make their EVs.
Mimco has also secured the supply of hybrid and electric powertrains from a China powertrain manufacturer. It has also obtained support from almost all component suppliers to build Mimco EVs.
These suppliers are supplying these components to an EV manufacturer in China that Mimco's technical partners have been involved with.
Establishing operations under the company would create about 25,000 direct and indirect jobs of all levels, from skilled workers right up to master's and PhD holders carrying out research and development programmes in EVs and their components.
We should give our full support to our own companies, such as Mimco, to compete in a new industry.
Dr Amalina Amir
Head of Innovative Electromobility, Research Lab, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UiTM
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times