Published on February 27th, 2023 | by Sounder Rajen

Auto Bavaria Introduces The First EV Charging Facility For MINI

Auto Bavaria Opens Three New EV Charging Bays in Gurney Plaza Penang

We all know that while electrification and electric vehicles (EVs) are all the rage these days but not so much here in Malaysia, the reason being EV charging infrastructure is severely behind, especially outside of the Klang Valley, but now Auto Bavaria and MINI are changing this.

Auto Bavaria, the largest network of authorised dealer representatives for premium automakers BMW, BMW Motorrad and MINI in the northern region of Malaysia, is pleased to introduce the first EV charging facility for the brand MINI in the northern region of Malaysia.

Moreover, this new EV charging facility is located on level six of Gurney Plaza Penang, the MINI charging facility features three units of the MINI Gen 3 Wallbox, capable of charging both fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Finally, we are now seeing more and more infrastructure outside of the Klang Valley Area.

These facilities from Auto Bavaria offer scalable charging power of up to 22kW, the charging operation on the MINI Gen 3 Wallbox is a hassle-free process, as one only needs to plug in the connector to a fully electric or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicle to start charging.

Vi Thim Juan, Managing Director, Sime Darby Auto Bavaria said, “In 2022, the MINI Electric accounted for over 30% of the MINI models delivered by Auto Bavaria Penang, demonstrating a growing demand for Electric Vehicles in these parts of Malaysia.”

Vi added, “The new facilities for charging MINI vehicles at Gurney Plaza aims to support this growing demand for electric vehicles as well as offer more access to public charging in the northern states. Gurney Plaza is the ideal location for our charging facility as it is a popular mall strategically located in the heart of Penang, making the location convenient for EV owners to charge their vehicles while they are out and about shopping at the mall.”

On top of that, Peter Chan, General Manager, Mall Management, CapitaLand Investment, stated, “As a responsible company, CapitaLand is committed to operating our malls in a sustainable manner. We believe that the provision of more charging stations is key to greater adoption of EVs. This will then help in reducing carbon emissions. There are currently 4 EV charging stations in total including three from MINI.”

The three new charging bays at Gurney Plaza Penang are now open to the public with operation hours being from 10am to 10pm daily and hopefully 2023 is finally the year EV charging infrastructure becomes viable enough for Malaysians to only own an EV in Malaysia thanks to Auto Bavaria.