In the roadmaps of the automotive industry, the electric vehicle (EV) is regarded as a crucial technology for the future of automotive power systems. The EV has become a top priority of major global car manufacturers and is expected to disrupt the road transportation sector. In Malaysia and Indonesia, EVs just started as an important force. However, in Malaysia, the lack of EV infrastructure, along with its strong dependency on fossil fuels, poses an enormous challenge. The situation is very similar in Indonesia. Indonesia has huge potential as Southeast Asia’s largest vehicle market and a major nickel producer, an important EV battery ingredient. Therefore, this article addresses several critical issues in implementing EVs in Malaysia and Indonesia. In preparing this review, we have thoroughly selected very important EV keywords that are frequently asked. We have also interviewed some prominent figures in the field of EV to address the most critical aspects worth including in the paper. In doing so, we plan to provide content that will be beneficial not only to the academic world but also to the automotive industry in general. Firstly, a summary of the EV adoption scenario in each country was presented. Afterwards, the types of EVs and battery capacities available in both countries were explained. The next section focused on the adoption rate of EVs, followed by the discussion of EVs charging infrastructure. In addition to that, issues pertaining to vehicle tax credit were also addressed. The opportunities and challenges of EV were then addressed in depth before concluding remarks were given.

Transportation is the second-largest sector contributing to greenhouse gas emissions due to CO₂ gas generation from the combustion of fossil fuels. Electric vehicles (EVs) are believed to be a great solution to overcome this issue. EVs can reduce CO₂ emissions because the vehicles use an electric motor as a propeller instead of an internal combustion engine. Combined with sustainable energy resources, EVs may become zero-emission transportation. This paper presents an overview of the EV drive train types, including their architecture with the benefits and drawbacks of each type. The aim is to summarize the recent progress of EV technology that always continues to be updated. Furthermore, a comparative investigation on energy density and efficiency, specific energy and power, cost, and application is carried out for batteries as the main energy storage. This discussion provides an understanding of the current development of battery technology, especially the batteries used in EVs. Moreover, the electric motor efficiency, power density, fault tolerance, reliability, and cost are also presented, including the most effective electric motor to use in EVs. The challenges and opportunities of EV deployment in the future are then discussed comprehensively. The government regulation for EVs is still a major non-technical challenge, whereas the charging time and battery performance are the challenges for the technical aspect.

Temperature management for battery packs installed in electric vehicles is crucial to ensure that the battery works properly. For lithium-ion battery cells, the optimal operating temperature is in the range of 25 to 40 °C with a maximum temperature difference among battery cells of 5 °C. This work aimed to optimize lithium-ion battery packing design for electric vehicles to meet the optimal operating temperature using an air-cooling system by modifying the number of cooling fans and the inlet air temperature. A numerical model of 74 V and 2.31 kWh battery packing was simulated using the lattice Boltzmann method. The results showed that the temperature difference between the battery cells decreased with the increasing number of cooling fans; likewise, the mean temperature inside the battery pack decreased with the decreasing inlet air temperature. The optimization showed that the configuration of three cooling fans with 25 °C inlet air temperature gave the best performance with low power required. Even though the maximum temperature difference was still 15 °C, the configuration kept all battery cells inside the optimum temperature range. This finding is helpful to develop a standardized battery packing module and for engineers in designing low-cost battery packing for electric vehicles.

The main challenging issues of vehicles with electric propulsion are on the limited energy source due to relatively low battery capacity and low excitation of power traction. They can be tackled down by designing lightweight structures for frameworks and bodies of the vehicles. Composite materials which have a high strength to weight ratio are the best choice for designing and manufacturing the lightweight structures. A review of recent progress in utilization of the composite materials for electric vehicle structures is presented. It focuses on how the structures can support the electric vehicles to compete with internal combustion engine vehicles regarding their performance on the road. The utilization of composite material for structures of railway vehicles is also summarized. Furthermore, discussions are extended to the key technologies required for applying the composite materials in Indonesia such as composite–metal joint technology, fiber and matrix production technology, and numerical analysis competency for modeling the composite.