AN image purportedly taken at Starling Mall in Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya showing an electric vehicle (EV) charging using a three-pin charging device raises a few pertinent issues.
Shared by motoring journalist Faiz Zailnal (@thefaizainal) on X, a few netizens mistakenly thought it was to name and shame the owner of the BMW owner for kiasu-ness in “stealing” electricity with unauthorised use of the power points in Starling Mall’s car park.
Viral kat Facebook gambar ni.
Sebuah kereta EV BMW IX cas guna plug 3-pin dekat Starling Mall secara percuma. pic.twitter.com/6pmLpEPKnP
— FAIZ ZAINAL (@thefaizzainal) December 22, 2024
As pointed out by the poster himself, this was an alternative mode of charging electric vehicles. It was further noted that the management of Starling Mall did indeed allow for such a provision since 2018.
Editor’s Note: The Starling Mall management had on Nov 25 provided five DC charger bays for its visitors “to power up their ride” while they shop and dine.
However, the chargers are not to be found in the mall’s basement or elevated carpark but are located at the lobby of the Somerset serviced apartment which is near the mall’s valet parking vicinity on the ground floor.
“The Kempower DR charger units can dispense up to 400kW per bay, they say, so if you have a hungry beast of an electric car, bottoms up at RM1.60 per kWh here – don’t take too long in the mall, though,” reported paultan.org.
One commenter did remark that perhaps the poster should delete the post to which he replied that it was meant to educate the public on alternative ways of charging as well as the fact that Starling Mall did provide this facility.
However, more than a few questioned the poster’s intentions with the wording of the post while insinuating that it was merely intended as clickbait.
Sure enough, there were those who sought to condemn the vehicle owner without fully reading the post/comments.
One netizen pointed out that the pertinent issue is whether the vehicle owner had sought permission beforehand or if the premise owners allowed for such charging.
A few asked if it was safe to do so. What if the charging device is stolen?
The poster put their minds at ease by contending that there were safety features to prevent theft, not least the locking of the charging cable. However, the risk that mischievous fingers would turn off the switch remained.
One netizen pointed out that far too often non-EV vehicles tend to take up charging bays.
However, it did seem that many a netizen was not amused at this vaguely worded post which invited unnecessary attention on the vehicle owner (even though the registration number is blurred).
It must be said that most EV owners would be aware of the charging methods, unless of course, the post is to educate petrol-powered motorists on the convenience of owning an EV.
Another possibility is that the poster is being sponsored by Starling Mall. – Dec 26, 2024
