Putting four EVs to the test on a 2,000km cross-border road trip

The Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD, Volvo ES90, BMW iX3 50 xDrive and Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ after a 500km drive from Singapore, with another 1,500km to go.

ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

Published Sep 11, 2026, 12:14 PM

Updated Sep 11, 2026, 01:14 PM

KEDAH, Malaysia – Within a few years, electric vehicles (EVs) have evolved from being mere adaptations of petrol cars to ground-up creations boasting extra-large battery capacity, high energy efficiency and ultra-long operating range.

Some claim to be able to cover 800km on a single charge, enough to zip from Singapore to Penang at one go.

The behind-the-wheel experience has matured just as rapidly.

Take one-pedal driving, which enables the driver to bring the car to a complete stop without using the brake pedal. This is no longer the jarring, jerky affair when the feature first appeared on EVs. Instead, lifting off the accelerator now mimics the natural coasting sensation of a conventional engine.

Crucial to the EV experience is the charging infrastructure. The EV-charging network has been growing in Singapore and across the border.

As at the end of May, Malaysia has 6,416 public chargers, of which 2,143 are high-speed DC fast chargers. In comparison, according to data from February, Singapore has 28,300 chargers, of which some 3,100 are fast chargers.

To find out if this is sufficient for road-trippers from Singapore and whether the latest EVs are up to the task, Straits Times Motoring recreated the cross-border EV road test from 2022 with four long-range models, six drivers and a far more ambitious itinerary.

While the 2022 trip largely stuck to the West Coast Expressway to Penang, where there tends to be charging stations along the way , the 2026 edition took a punishing cross-country loop.

Our route plotted a course up the east coast through Kuantan and Terengganu, before thundering across scenic trunk roads (or “B-roads”) to Alor Setar in the north-west. From there, the convoy would head south, passing Ipoh, Melaka and Desaru before crossing the finish line back in Singapore – a journey that would cover over 2,000km in a relentless five days.

The cars for this extended test were the BMW iX3 50 xDrive, Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+, Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD and Volvo ES90 .

These marathoners boast ranges of at least 650km – a relatively high bar and about 100km more than many popular EVs in the market today.

The Volvo is rated at 661km and the Tesla claims 750km. The Mercedes and BMW both claim to be able to cover over 800 kilometres. BMW has the largest battery capacity at 108.7kWh, while Tesla has the smallest at 84kWh.

Returning for this high-voltage sequel were retired ST senior transport correspondent Christopher Tan, freelance writer Lionel Seah and myself.

Joining the adventure were Seah’s son Sean, a polytechnic student; BMW M Club Singapore president Chan Weiwen; and Liew Kwong Chin, a lifelong BMW enthusiast from Ipoh who has been living in Singapore.

To help neutralise differences in driving styles and occupant weight, we switched cars daily. Throughout the journey, the six drivers took turns behind the wheel of the four EVs to manage fatigue.

Flagging off at 6.30am from the SPC petrol station in Admiralty Road , I took the first stint in the Tesla, syncing my iPhone via Bluetooth to stream Spotify tunes because the car does not have Apple CarPlay.

Crossing the Woodlands Checkpoint was relatively smooth.

The built-in navigation reliably guided us to our first breakfast stop at Ah San Kueh Teow Kia in Kota Tinggi – a two-hour drive away. This hidden local gem treated us to an excellent spread of traditional braised pork and offal.

The drive also offered a taste of the Grok, Tesla’s artificial intelligence companion. The machine impressed with its real-time commentary on the town’s history and local food recommendations.

We then pushed onwards to Kuantan City Mall for lunch, arriving at 1.30pm.

Despite having clocked only 340km , with plenty of range left in the EVs , we decided to juice up our fleet at the mall’s DC Handal hub, which features a 120kW DC fast charger with dual nozzles alongside two 11kW AC stations. The contactless credit or debit card payment system proved user-friendly.

Finding one fast charging nozzle and one slow charging bay occupied, we hooked up our first two cars before heading off to eat. Returning after lunch, we were able to plug in the other two EVs.

This seamless experience was a far cry from the road trip four years ago, when charging options were restricted to isolated petrol stations equipped with a single plug.

Now, we have multiple charging guns to replenish the EVs at once while dining in air-conditioned comfort, tracking real-time status via dedicated apps instead of relying on guesswork.

After lunch, we pushed towards Tanjong Jara Resort in Terengganu for our overnight stay, making a pit stop at a beachfront for a photo shoot. While driving close to the shoreline to soak in the sea breeze is a popular local pastime, straying into the softer patches of sand is not recommended, as it is easy for the wheels to get bogged.

The hills are not alive, with the silence of EVs. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

The hills are not alive, with the silence of EVs.

We finally rolled into the resort at around 8pm, where I stepped out of the Tesla with an aching back. It turned out that I was not the only one, based on what the other drivers said after their stints in the Tesla over the next few days.

I enjoyed the Tesla’s steroidal acceleration and sharp handling on the expressways, although the car’s twitchy steering demanded more concentration as the drive went on.

Our earlier decision to fast-charge in Kuantan proved to be a wise move. The two chargers at the resort were modest 22kW AC units and it took a while to charge up each car. It took over three hours to top up the 148km of range used to travel from Kuantan City Mall.

It was tricky to use the chargers too. Without streetlights at the charging bay, we had to use smartphone torches to shine on the JomCharge QR codes, while using another phone to scan and initiate charging.

When scanning failed, the only way was to key in the charger identifier code manually. This proved to be a difficult task when it turned out that the labelling was wrong. It took a while to work out that what was labelled as Charger 1 was actually Charger 2, all while braving mosquitoes.

The next day, we set off at 8am for Alor Setar – a 554km stretch without any chargers en route. On the plus side, it promised spectacular scenery as we cut through the majestic Titiwangsa Mountain Range. We stopped at the Titiwangsa Rest Stop, perched 1,000m above sea level, to refuel ourselves with budget-friendly servings of ayam penyet.

I drove the Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ on this leg, instantly pampered by its superb lumbar support. The low-slung sedan cornered beautifully and, before long, I was enthusiastically tracing the racing lines up the sweeping mountain passes.

The younger Seah, who took the wheel in the afternoon while I snapped photos from the passenger seat, agreed, describing the dynamics as “striking a nice balance between peppy and a relaxed drive”.

The only downside was that the CLA’s acceleration tapered off after 140kmh. Still, its overall efficiency was excellent, completing the day’s drive with 20 per cent of battery charge remaining, a feat likely aided by its slick two-speed transmission.

Range anxiety kicks in

Over at the Volvo ES90, Chan probably had too much fun exploring the car’s handling and performance as it went through its battery charge at an alarming rate. By the end of the climb, the Volvo was crying for a charge.

The next available charging point, which was at the hotel, stood 230km away, which was 30km more than what the Volvo projected it could manage with the remaining charge. Cue severe range anxiety.

Tan, drawing on his experience with pushing EV batteries to their absolute limits, sagely advised that driving with a bit of care on the way down the hill should be able to recover enough energy for the drive.

Silent hill: The tail lights of the Volvo ES90 became quite hard to see when the mountain fog at Titiwangsa Mountain range descended. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

Silent hill: The tail lights of the Volvo ES90 became quite hard to see when the mountain fog at Titiwangsa Mountain range descended.

As we began our descent, a sudden torrential downpour forced us to drive much more slowly than we liked. A thick mountain fog descended rapidly, reducing visibility dangerously. At times, it was difficult to follow the tail lights of the vehicle ahead.

Looking through my lens, I was simultaneously awed by the raw beauty of the landscape and quietly concerned about the treacherous driving conditions.

Meanwhile, Liew was enjoying the drive in the BMW iX3, which was assigned to be the last car in the convoy. He said the EV felt like the regular petrol-powered BMWs that he was used to, giving the driver plenty of useful feedback. However, he found that the steering design and button controls took some getting used to.

Further up the pack was the Volvo, gingerly driven with the air-conditioning set to the Eco mode to conserve range. Thanks to regenerative braking, the descent recovered 3 per cent of battery charge. This was enough for the ES90 to arrive at Alor Setar’s Frazel Heritage Hotel on its own power, with just 40km of range left.

The hotel staff had reserved a dual-nozzle 60kW DC charger for us to charge two cars at a time, which was great, except that one of the nozzles was faulty and would stop charging intermittently.

Get ready for Part 2: Volvo ES90, BMW iX3 50 xDrive, Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD and Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ at the Alor Setar Tower. Next stop: Ipoh. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

Get ready for Part 2: Volvo ES90, BMW iX3 50 xDrive, Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD and Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ at the Alor Setar Tower. Next stop: Ipoh.

At least the drivers got to enjoy a great seafood dinner at Jai Huat, a zi char restaurant popular with the locals.

Due to the faulty nozzle, the EVlution charging app kept pinging through the night. Having to repeatedly roll out of bed to reinitiate charging was pure torture.

After one too many pings, I ignored the notification that charging had stopped, only to wake up at 7am the next day in a panic, worried that we would not have enough charge for the day’s drive. Is this the life of EV drivers on road trips?

Follow the conclusion of the journey in the second part of this series next week.

Electric and hybrid vehicles

从新加坡出发行驶 500 公里后，特斯拉 Model 3 长续航后驱版、沃尔沃 ES90、宝马 iX3 50 xDrive 和奔驰 CLA 250+ 的驾驶体验，还有 1500 公里的路程要走。

《海峡时报》照片：梁崇俊

发布于 2026 年 9 月 11 日下午 12:14

更新于2026年9月11日下午1:14

马来西亚吉打州——短短几年内，电动汽车（EV）就从汽油车的简单改装发展成为全新的产品，拥有超大的电池容量、高能源效率和超长的续航里程。

有人声称一次充电可以行驶 800 公里，足以一次性从新加坡飞到槟城。

驾驶体验也发展得同样迅速成熟。

以单踏板驾驶为例，它允许驾驶员无需踩刹车踏板即可将车辆完全停止。这与电动汽车最初搭载该功能时那种顿挫感截然不同。如今，松开油门踏板即可模拟传统燃油车的自然滑行感觉。

充电基础设施对电动汽车体验至关重要。新加坡及其邻国的电动汽车充电网络正在不断发展壮大。

截至5月底，马来西亚共有6416个公共充电桩，其中2143个为直流快速充电桩。相比之下，根据2月份的数据，新加坡共有28300个充电桩，其中约3100个为快速充电桩。

为了了解这是否足以满足新加坡自驾游者的需求，以及最新的电动汽车是否能够胜任这项任务，《海峡时报》汽车版重现了 2022 年的跨境电动汽车道路测试，使用了四款长续航车型、六名驾驶员，并制定了更为雄心勃勃的行程。

2022 年的行程主要沿着西海岸高速公路前往槟城，沿途通常都有充电站，而 2026 年的行程则走了一条艰苦的跨国环线。

我们的路线规划是沿着东海岸北上，途经关丹和登嘉楼，然后沿着风景优美的公路（​​或称“B级公路”）疾驰到西北部的亚罗士打。从那里，车队将向南行驶，经过怡保、马六甲和迪沙鲁，最终返回新加坡——这段旅程将在五天内累计行驶超过2000公里。

本次扩展测试的车型包括宝马 iX3 50 xDrive、奔驰 CLA 250+、特斯拉 Model 3 长续航后驱版和沃尔沃 ES90。

这些马拉松型电动汽车的续航里程至少达到 650 公里——这是一个相对较高的标准，比目前市场上许多流行的电动汽车的续航里程高出约 100 公里。

沃尔沃的续航里程为661公里，特斯拉则宣称达到750公里。奔驰和宝马都声称续航里程超过800公里。宝马的电池容量最大，为108.7千瓦时，而特斯拉的电池容量最小，为84千瓦时。

参与这部高能续集的有已退休的《海峡时报》高级交通记者克里斯托弗·谭、自由撰稿人莱昂内尔·谢和我。

加入此次冒险之旅的还有 Seah 的儿子 Sean，他是一名理工学院学生；新加坡宝马 M 俱乐部主席 Chan Weiwen；以及来自怡保、现居新加坡的终身宝马爱好者 Liew Kwong Chin。

为了消除驾驶风格和乘员体重差异的影响，我们每天轮换驾驶不同的车辆。在整个旅程中，六位驾驶员轮流驾驶四辆电动汽车，以缓解疲劳。

早上 6 点 30 分，我从海军部路的 SPC 加油站出发，驾驶特斯拉进行了第一次试驾，通过蓝牙将我的 iPhone 连接到特斯拉上播放 Spotify 音乐，因为这辆车没有 Apple CarPlay。

通过兀兰关卡的过程相对顺利。

车载导航系统可靠地指引我们前往位于哥打丁宜的阿山粿条家，这是我们此行的第一站早餐地点，车程约两小时。这家隐藏的当地美食宝藏为我们奉上了丰盛的传统红烧猪肉和内脏大餐。

这次试驾活动也让我们体验了特斯拉的人工智能助手Grok。这款机器对小镇历史的实时讲解和当地美食推荐给我们留下了深刻的印象。

随后我们继续前往关丹城市购物中心吃午饭，于下午 1 点 30 分到达。

尽管电动汽车仅行驶了340公里，剩余电量充足，我们还是决定在商场的直流充电站给车队充电。该充电站配备了一个120千瓦的直流快速充电桩（双喷嘴）以及两个11千瓦的交流充电桩。非接触式信用卡或借记卡支付系统也十分便捷易用。

发现一个快充桩和一个慢充桩都被占用后，我们给前两辆车接上电源，然后就去吃饭了。午饭后回来，我们又给另外两辆电动车充上了电。

这种无缝体验与四年前的公路旅行截然不同，当时充电选择仅限于配备单个插头的偏远加油站。

现在，我们有了多个充电枪，可以在舒适的空调餐厅里同时为电动汽车充电，并通过专用应用程序跟踪实时状态，而无需依靠猜测。

午饭后，我们驱车前往登嘉楼的丹戎加拉度假村，准备在那里过夜。途中，我们在海滩边稍作停留，拍了几张照片。虽然驾车沿着海岸线行驶，享受海风是当地人喜爱的休闲方式，但并不建议驶入松软的沙地，因为车轮很容易陷进去。

山峦寂静无声，唯有电动车的身影。（海峡时报摄影：梁崇俊）

山丘上没有了生机，只有电动汽车的寂静。

晚上8点左右，我们终于抵达度假村。我下了特斯拉，感觉后背酸痛。接下来的几天里，其他司机也体验了特斯拉，他们的感受与我截然不同，看来我不是唯一一个有这种感觉的人。

我喜欢特斯拉在高速公路上迅猛的加速和精准的操控，尽管随着驾驶的进行，这辆车略显神经质的转向需要我更加集中注意力。

我们之前决定在关丹进行快速充电的决定被证明是明智的。度假村里的两个充电桩都是功率较小的22千瓦交流充电桩，给每辆车充电都需要很长时间。从关丹城市购物中心出发，我们花了三个多小时才充满148公里的续航里程。

使用充电器也很麻烦。充电站没有路灯，我们只能用手机的手电筒照亮 JomCharge 的二维码，同时用另一部手机扫描二维码启动充电。

扫描失败后，唯一的办法就是手动输入充电器识别码。但结果发现标签错了，这可真是一项艰巨的任务。我花了好一会儿才弄明白，标着“充电器 1”的其实是“充电器 2”，而且还得忍受蚊子的叮咬。

第二天早上8点，我们出发前往亚罗士打——全程554公里，沿途没有任何充电站。不过，好处是沿途风景壮丽，我们将穿越雄伟的蒂蒂旺沙山脉。我们在海拔1000米的蒂蒂旺沙休息站停下来，享用价格实惠的印尼炸鸡（ayam penyet）补充能量。

这段旅程我驾驶的是奔驰CLA 250+，它出色的腰部支撑让我立刻感到无比舒适。这辆低矮的轿车过弯性能极佳，没过多久，我便兴致勃勃地沿着蜿蜒的山路，沿着赛车路线飞驰而上。

下午，年轻的谢先生开车，而我则坐在副驾驶座上拍照。他对此表示赞同，并将这种驾驶方式描述为“在轻快和轻松的驾驶之间取得了很好的平衡”。

唯一的缺点是CLA的加速性能在时速超过140公里后有所下降。不过，它的整体效率非常出色，完成一天的驾驶后电池还剩余20%的电量，这很可能得益于其流畅的两速变速箱。

里程焦虑症发作

在沃尔沃ES90那边，陈先生可能玩得太投入，尽情体验了这辆车的操控性和性能，结果电池电量消耗得飞快。爬坡结束时，这辆沃尔沃已经急需充电了。

下一个可用的充电桩在酒店，距离230公里，比沃尔沃预计剩余电量能行驶的里程多了30公里。这下可真是让人焦虑不已了。

谭先生凭借自己将电动汽车电池推向极限的经验，明智地建议，下坡时小心驾驶应该能够回收足够的能量以完成行驶。

寂静岭：蒂蒂旺沙山脉的雾气弥漫，沃尔沃ES90的尾灯变得难以辨认。（海峡时报摄影：梁崇俊）

寂静岭：当蒂蒂旺沙山脉的山雾笼罩时，沃尔沃 ES90 的尾灯变得很难看清。

下山途中，突如其来的倾盆大雨迫使我们放慢车速。浓厚的山雾迅速弥漫开来，能见度骤降，情况十分危险。有时，甚至难以辨认前车的尾灯。

透过镜头，我既被这片土地的原始之美所震撼，又暗自担忧着危险的驾驶条件。

与此同时，刘先生正驾驶着宝马iX3，这辆车被安排在车队的最后一辆车。他说，这辆电动车开起来感觉和他以前开过的汽油版宝马车差不多，能给驾驶员提供很多有用的路感反馈。不过，他觉得方向盘的设计和按钮操作需要一些时间来适应。

沃尔沃ES90排在更前面，驾驶者小心翼翼，并将空调设置为节能模式以节省续航里程。得益于能量回收制动系统，下坡路段回收了3%的电池电量。这足以让ES90依靠自身动力抵达亚罗士打的弗雷泽尔遗产酒店，此时剩余续航里程仅剩40公里。

酒店工作人员为我们预留了一个双喷嘴 60kW 直流充电器，可以同时给两辆车充电，这很好，只是其中一个喷嘴有故障，会间歇性地停止充电。

敬请期待第二部分：沃尔沃 ES90、宝马 iX3 50 xDrive、特斯拉 Model 3 长续航后驱版以及奔驰 CLA 250+ 在亚罗士打大厦的亮相。下一站：怡保。海峡时报摄影：庄俊良

敬请期待第二部分：沃尔沃 ES90、宝马 iX3 50 xDrive、特斯拉 Model 3 长续航后驱版和奔驰 CLA 250+，尽在亚罗士打大厦。下一站：怡保。

至少司机们在当地人喜爱的煮炒餐厅 Jai Huat 享用了一顿美味的海鲜晚餐。

由于充电嘴故障，EVlution充电应用程序整夜不停地发出提示音。不得不反复从床上爬起来重新启动充电，简直是折磨。

收到充电停止的通知后，我没理会，结果第二天早上7点惊醒，担心电量不够当天的行程。这就是电动汽车车主公路旅行的常态吗？

敬请关注下周本系列第二部分，了解旅程的结局。

电动和混合动力汽车