There is no doubt that Singaporeans love anything cheap and scraping automobile costs go hand in hand with that idea.
The unlucky sufferer of it all?
Malaysia.
After all the pumping Ron95 fuel drama, another Singaporean was allegedly caught “stealing” electricity from a Malaysian petrol kiosk’s fast charging station.
Charged Car But Didn’t Pay the Charges
A photo of the incident was reported by paultan.org, Malaysia’s number-one source for automotive news.
In the photo, a Singaporean-registered BYD M3 electric van was seen using the 180 kW Shell Recharge DC fast charger at Tangkak.
However, the driver had parked around the raised barrier to recharge the van, evading the costs of using the space.
The incident had occurred at a Shell petrol kiosk in Tangkak Lay-By, Johor, which houses the first Shell Recharge high-performance charging point in Malaysia, about 180km from Singapore.
The charging point boasts a 180 kW DC fast charger featuring two CCS Type 2 connectors.
How to Use the Charging Point
Shell Recharge is a paid service whereby users are supposed to make payment via the ParkEasy app.
After making payment, the barriers on the parking lot will be lowered so that the driver can park at the charger and use it.
The DC charger itself does not need any authentication, which is how the BYD van was able to use the charger allegedly without paying for it.
The cost of charging a vehicle consists of a RM4 ($1.27) confirmation fee, RM20 ($6.36) for every five minutes of charging for the first 25 minutes, and RM20 for every five minute block thereafter.
This works out to RM240 ($76.31) an hour, excluding the confirmation fee.
The fees are based on how long users reserve the parking lot and does not take into account how many kWh drivers pull from the charger.
This is in contrast to Singapore where vehicles are charged according to kWh.
Singaporean Drivers in Malaysia
Previously, Singaporean drivers had been caught pumping the heavily subsidised Ron95 petrol that was reserved for locals.
This sparked much unhappiness as some drivers had even jacked up or tilted their cars to get more petrol in.
The multiple incidents were brought up by Malaysian authorities and more pump attendants have since been stationed in Johor Baru petrol kiosks to deter the kiasu Singaporean “stealers”.
Featured Image: paultan.org