One year with my First Chinese car and EV

 Chinese cars are still something of a novelty in Malaysia, so there are always people curious to know what they are really like to own — especially an electric one.
 
I was curious myself. So a year ago, I bought a pre-registered Proton e.MAS 7 for RM103,000.
 
Twelve months and 14,000km later, I think I have a reasonably good idea of what living with an EV in Malaysia is really like.
 
We have made about 10 outstation trips in the e.MAS 7, including drives to Penang, Muar and Kuala Terengganu. But my biggest conclusion after one year is quite simple: in Malaysia today, an EV makes most sense as an urban car, particularly if you can charge it at home.
 
That last qualification is important.
 
At home, I reckon electricity costs me roughly 40 to 45 sen per kWh. At that price, my e.MAS 7 costs around RM115 in electricity to cover about 1,400 to 1,500km a month.
 
That is remarkably cheap motoring.
 
But take the same car onto the highway and become dependent on commercial chargers, and the economics change considerably. Public charging can cost from around 80 sen per kWh for some AC charging to RM1.50 or more for DC fast charging.
 
For those who like the maths, assume my e.MAS 7 consumes about 17kWh/100km.
 
Drive 1,500km and you need roughly 255kWh. At a home electricity cost of 45 sen/kWh, that’s about RM115.
 
Buy the same 255kWh from a public DC charger at RM1.50/kWh and it becomes RM383.
 
That’s an extra RM268 a month, or more than RM3,000 a year.
 
Of course, public charger prices vary according to operator, charger speed, location and membership discounts. But the lesson remains: an EV is exceptionally cheap to run if you can charge at home. Rely heavily on commercial fast chargers and much of that advantage disappears.
 
One take-away from EV ownership for urban use is that in between out of office meetings, we can use the camp-mode to recharge ourselves or to work the smartphone.
 
After a year of EV ownership, we still prefer our 12-year-old turbocharged Peugeot 3008 for the drive from Petaling Jaya to our kampung house in Kuala Terengganu.
 
You simply fill the tank and drive. Petrol stations are everywhere and refuelling takes minutes. With the EV, a long journey requires more planning around where and when to charge.
 
This also exposes what I think is a hidden divide in Malaysia’s transition to EVs.
 
EV economics favour people who live in landed homes with their own parking space and an AC wallbox. Someone living in a condominium without convenient residential charging may have to depend on commercial chargers and pay substantially more for exactly the same electricity to move the car.
 
Where you park your EV can determine what you pay to run it.
 
There have been other lessons.
 
The e.MAS 7’s body skin seems rather soft. Mine has acquired several small dimples, apparently from the everyday knocks and nudges of urban life.
 
Then came a more serious test.
 
About four months ago, an elderly gentleman in a battered Proton Saga sideswiped my e.MAS 7, damaging both doors on one side.
 
That introduced me to another aspect of EV ownership: accident repair.
 
Because it is an EV, I had to use a body-and-paint facility equipped and certified to handle electric vehicles. Replacement door panels also had to arrive before the main repair could begin.
 
The workshop executive sensibly advised me to continue using the car while waiting for the parts. The damaged doors could still open and close, and some tape kept rainwater out.
 
From accident to getting my e.MAS 7 back in as-new condition took roughly two months. Importantly, however, the car was actually in the workshop for only about two weeks. For most of the waiting period, I could continue driving it.
 
So, after 14,000km, would I buy an EV again?
 
For urban use, absolutely.
 
The e.MAS 7 is powerful, smooth and wonderfully quiet. The instant acceleration remains entertaining even after a year, while the near absence of engine noise and vibration makes city driving remarkably relaxing.
 
And when it is charged at home, its energy cost is a fraction of what I have been accustomed to paying for petrol.
 
But one year of ownership has also taught me not to look at an EV simply as a replacement for a petrol car.
 
For the city, my EV has become my preferred car.
 
For a long-distance dash across Malaysia, however, the old Peugeot still gets the call.
 
Perhaps that is the reality of EV ownership in Malaysia today. The electric car doesn’t yet have to replace everything in the garage.
 
It just has to be very good at what it does.
 
The Proton e.MAS 7 is a mid-sized, two-wheel-drive electric SUV based on a vehicle developed by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. It competes in Malaysia’s increasingly crowded RM100,000–RM150,000 EV segment.