Ingenieur Vol.79 July-Sept 2019 ingenieur 2019 july-sept | Page 64

INGENIEUR Figure 8: Research Works on Rechargeable Battery pack that helps to drive down costs. It also struck up a strategic partnership with Panasonic, a leading manufacturer of lithium ion batteries, to build the Gigafactory to manufacture electric cars. Tesla has revolutionised the production of electric cars – faster, better quality and lower costs. Vehicle Programme researcher James Womack, the creator of lean thinking and lean production in the 90s. Results No doubt the combined effort of Government, university and industry has boosted the demand for electric cars, a sustainable product and the best replacement for conventional fossil fuel cars. More importantly, it has created the second wave in the car industry with the desired sustainability to change the future of cars. It is “the machine that changed the machine”. It may even be more dramatic than the first wave, which was championed by Toyota’s production methods, as quoted in the book “The Machine That Changed The World” written by the International Motor According to statistics from the ASEAN Automotive Federation, the annual sales of passenger cars during the period of 2014-2018 in this region with a population of 650 million, was two million units. Malaysia ranks second after Indonesia with average sales of 548,000 units per annum. Malaysia is the only country in ASEAN that owns a national car and has more than 30 years’ experience in manufacturing passenger cars. If in future, electric cars are expected to replace existing fossil fuel powered cars, then it is important for the nation to look into the possibility of making electric cars the 3 rd national car and 6 62 VOL VOL 79 55 JULY-SEPTEMBER JUNE 2013 2019 The Electric Car in Malaysia