Ire-Tex to tap global green electric market

GEORGE TOWN: Ire-Tex Corp Bhd is making plans to tap into the global green electric vehicle industry with the new generation power management system via its wholly-owned subsidiary Zoomic Automation.

Group executive director Teh Eng Huat told StarBiz that it was now in talks with a Japanese company to jointly develop a new type of power management system which could shorten substantially the charging time of batteries used in electric vehicles.

“The standard conventional charging time of these batteries is about six hours. The challenge is to speed up the charging time without causing the power management system to malfunction.

“We hope to see some positive results from our negotiations with the Japanese company before the year ends,” Teh said.

He said the group was also looking into providing petrol kiosks in the country with the power management system and facilities for electric vehicles to recharge the batteries.

“We are also targeting to sell the system in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, and also Malaysia,” he said.

Teh said this year was going to be an exciting big year for electric cars.

“According to EV Obsession, an online electric vehicle news portal, new models such as the BMW i3, VW e-Golf, Tesla Model X, and Mercedes-Benz B Class Electric Drive are going to bring the game up to another level, as will increasing production capacity for the Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf,” he said.

According to the IHS Automotive research report released in February, the total production of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) is projected to rise to more than 403,000 this year, up from slightly more than 242,000 in 2013.

The report said the Europe, Middle East and Africa region would account for the largest share of production at more than 40%, with the Americas and Asia-Pacific each making up about 30%.

Another research house Navigant Research, in a report released in January, expects expansion in both the higher end of the market, as Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Mercedes, Saab, and Volvo introduce their first plug-in cars.

“More mainstream models will come from Kia, Mahindra, Škoda, and Volkswagen.

“North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific will continue to drive PEV sales, as the technology will have only limited availability in the emerging markets of Latin America and Africa,” it said.

On the group’s light-emitting diode (LED) business, Teh said Ire-Tex had spent about RM6mil for two LED tube production lines so far this year from the RM25mil allocation set aside for the business.

“We plan to increase the production lines to eight by 2015. Zoomic will initially produce about 50,000 sets of LED light tubes per month. Next year, the output will increase to 120,000 sets per month.

“The LED business should contribute about 30% to 35% of Ire-Tex’s revenue this year,” Teh added.

Ire-Tex had just locked in a RM150mil contract for the next three years to sell LED tubes to Japan and South-East Asia.