Macau, 21 April 2018

Companhia de Electricidade de Macau - CEM, S.A. (CEM) held the “Electric Vehicle Test Drive” at Coloane on 21 April to let citizens experience driving electric vehicles (EVs) and to learn about their benefits. The major contents in the activity include the explanation of EV’s principle, benefits, operations and charging methods of EVs as well as the distribution of charging stations. Each participant can bring along one passenger. The activity was in two sessions, morning and afternoon, attracting nearly 70 citizens registered to take part in the activity.

Cecilia Nip, Senior Manager of CEM Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Communications Office, welcomed all participants. She said that EV technologies have gradually matured in recent years, EVs are more eco-friendly than gasoline vehicles. Meanwhile, major carmakers have successively launched EVs, which have drawn more people to consider switching to EVs. To support the green mobility policy of Macau SAR Government and encourage the public to drive green, CEM has been actively expanding the charging network of EVs. By the end of 2017, CEM has set up a total of 121 charging spaces at 26 public car parks across Macau, with various charging speeds to suit different needs. As the use of EVs has yet become popular in Macau and many citizens are still unfamiliar with EVs, CEM hoped that by holding the “Electric Vehicle Test Drive”, citizens can experience the differences between EVs and gasoline vehicles in person, learn about its benefits and deepen their understanding of EV. The activity also presented an opportunity for car enthusiasts to communicate with each other.

Participants expressed that the activity let them know more about EV and EV charging stations. After driving EVs in person, they found that EVs are much quieter with higher horsepower and the driving experience was very smooth, the operation of EVs is basically no different from gasoline vehicles, as well as more eco-friendly. In the future, they will consider to purchase EVs.

Currently, of the 26 public car parks equipped with EV charging stations, 21 are in Macau Peninsula, 3 in Taipa and 2 in Coloane, with different charging speed to suit different needs. Battery level can reach up to 80% in just 30 minutes with quick charging, while fully charged will take about 4 hours with medium-speed charging and about 8 hours with standard charging. The charging stations basically cover most of the charging system standards, including quick charging Japan standard CHAdeMO, European standard DC Combo CCS2, IEC - IEC Type 2 three-phase 63A, medium-speed charging IEC Type 2 single phase 32A, and standard British 13A. In the next few years, the number of charging stations will be increased in line with the usage and the growth of EV, and the usage patterns of various districts will be analyzed to optimize the distribution of various charging systems.

Citizens can visit CEM website (www.cem-macau.com) to learn about the types and benefits of EVs, the distribution of charging stations, charging speeds and methods, as well as the application procedures of CEM EV card. Moreover, an EV section specially established in CEM e-Service App to provide various services, such as EV card application, charging record and charging station distribution checking and charging methods education and charging station incident reporting.