Sync R&D is the company behind Elektrik Bas Inovasi Malaysia, more commonly known as EBIM. EBIM is Malaysia’s first fully electric city bus – designed and made by local talents. It was developed with local operators’ input in mind to cater to the needs of the market, be it local or foreign.

This writer was brought for a spin on board the EBIM and was left feeling extremely proud of what our local talents have accomplished. Not only was the vehicle quick to pick up speed, it was not jerky at all which is predominant if it were to be used as a city bus which requires a lot of stopping.

Despite the lack of response from the Malaysian government, the company has had many love calls from foreign investors. A technical partner in India recently visited the company to express his interest to market EBIM in India. The partner is expecting an initial pilot project of 200 units of EBIM. “I can never dream of getting 200 units in Malaysia” said Azlan Merican, Chief Executive Officer at Sync R&D.

Azlan hopes that the Malaysian government gets back to him in the near future to recognise EBIM as a good potential investment. “I have done my part. I have a product that is certified. Now, someone needs to come in to bail out my development costs of RM40 million. My initial plan of rolling out EBIM in Malaysia does not seem to be doing so well, so I have to look to foreign investors for that. I hope this serves as a wake-up call for all. Malaysia really needs an electric bus, there is no two-way about it” he concluded.