As the country’s electricity provider, you might imagine that Tenaga Nasional (TNB) will be spearheading the public sector’s move towards electrification. As it turns out, the utility company is making the first steps in that direction, as it has committed to electrifying 30% of its fleet by 2030.

That may not seem like such a big percentage, but according to Bernama, that still constitutes more than 1,000 vehicles. Or at least, so says TNB’s president and CEO Datuk Seri Baharin Din, who added that the initiative is in line with government’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Baharin said TNB is kicking off the move with the recent rollout of nearly 100 new EVs. “In a significant step towards realising this commitment, Tenaga is accelerating its transition to electric vehicles with the deployment of 98 new units, comprising 78 electric pickup trucks and 20 electric vans,” he said in a statement on Sunday. “This brings the total number of EVs in the TNB fleet to 127.”

He added that the electrification of TNB’s fleet will make a significant contribution to the government’s target of having EV sales make up 20% of the total industry volume (TIV) sales by 2030, in line with the National Automotive Policy (NAP) 2020.

“The economic benefits of Tenaga’s EV adoption initiative are substantial, with anticipated cost savings ranging from 35% to 86% on repair and maintenance, and 25 to 70% lower energy costs compared to conventional fossil-fuel vehicles. Tenaga also anticipates an annual offset of approximately 6 to 12% in fossil fuel expenditure,” he said.

We reported last month that TNB received several new Maxus T90 EV pick-ups as part of this push. The company reportedly received initial units sometime in the middle of last year, but this latest delivery hints at the impending launch of the truck, which has yet to go on sale.

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