It seems that electric vehicles really are the cars of the moment, at least according to Bernama. The national news agency spoke with the Malaysian Electric Vehicle Owners Club (MyEVOC) president Datuk Shahrol Halmi, who said that the market has been responding favourably to the influx of new zero-emission vehicles.
Shahrol said there are an estimated 500 EVs on the road today, with many more people intending to buy one. “There’s a bright future for EVs in Malaysia, with many expressing an interest in owning one because it is smoother and quieter than a conventional car,” he said.
The rising interest in electric cars isn’t surprising. After all, the government has exempted these vehicles from import tax, excise duty and road tax starting this year, leading to much cheaper cars – something that always grabs buyers’ attention in our price-sensitive market. Consequently, there’s now a wide range of EVs to suit a variety of budgets and needs, said Shahrol.
“The current trend in Malaysia is high-end EVs from Porsche, BMW, Hyundai, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz, and now, Tesla, MG and Audi have entered the market, too. Buyers are spoilt for choice,” he said. We should point out that Tesla and Audi electric vehicles have been brought in via parallel importers and not through official means, while MG has yet to start local sales – although it apparently plans to do so later in the year.
Shahrol added that the recent popularity of EVs is good for the country, given the obvious lack of local emissions. “The Malaysian government encourages EV use, providing an exemption on import duty and more. They are better for the environment and don’t emit carbon dioxide which pollutes the air. It is in accordance with the government’s 2021-2030 Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint as well,” he said.
There’s a “but” in all this, of course – Shahrol said Malaysia still has work to improve its ecosystem to match other countries in the region like Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. “They are more actively working on becoming leaders in the EV field and are continuously improving their ecosystem to enable their people to use EVs with ease,” he said.
Doubtless he is referring to the lack of any meaningful incentives to entice carmakers to build their cars and batteries here, unlike in those countries. As a result, most vehicles are being brought in as CBU imports, with the only locally-assembled electric model being the Volvo XC40 Recharge P8.
Shahrol also highlighted the relatively high cost of EVs (even with the tax exemptions) and the lack of a widespread charging infrastructure, although he believes these issues will be solved as sales of electric vehicles ramp up. “I hope EV users will be more involved in giving feedback to sellers, charge point operators and the government for a EV future that is brighter,” he said.
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Really MyEVOC? Ecosystem lacking and not the price of EV?
Yes, ecosystem lacking. Why build a huge volume of electric car at cheap price if no infrastructure to support it? For us B40 and M40, car is a tool, not a toy. You dare to buy cheap electric car if no place to charge? Let the rich buy it now, use their influence to get more charging location built.
Nope, I’m fine with cheap RON95. No downtime
The whole point of this is about sustainability and environment. Is not just about you.
One can buy an EV but cannot invest on an AC charger at home?
Can share how to pull 3 phase power line to kampung area houses?
That MyEvoc fella is a big fraud. Former CEO of 1MDB …monthly salary RM99,000 and Bonus 18 Bulan RM1.78 Juta. Malu apa EV ku..
You can also install Level 2 AC Charger on a single-phase. 10-80% charging should take about 7-8 hours depending on battery size.
All of them were fraudsters inc goldman sachs, and instead of taking reponsibility they blamed it all on our innocent PM. Bunch of crooks n swindlers.
This I agree… Guess the G IS ACTUALLY not going all out on EVs…
EV road tax are ridiculously high…
People who buys BMW & Mercedes do not complain about road tax cost and yet those looking to buy EV at about the same price balk at paying road tax cost which is also the equivalent to the BMW & Mercedes?
Something is wrong with these people’s unrealistic expectation. Are you expecting it to be free?
https://paultan.org/2022/03/29/80-of-malaysian-drivers-want-to-see-more-evs-on-the-road-but-59-will-still-buy-petrol-cars-next-bmw/
Out of 80% interest, majority 59% will still buy ICE car not because of road tax pricing but driving range which relate to ecosystem.
I dont mind on the ecosystem but the price is on the high side and road tax are crazy
You don’t mind the ecosystem? Then are you powering that EV by willpower or something? Even if give you supercheap car at zero road tax it means nothing if you cannot charge up your EV.
Why do you say “cannot charge up your EV”? If someone lives in a landed property, they can use a standard 3-pin wall plug or invest in a level 2 AC charger.
PaulTan have said it before, don’t bother with using wall plug, charge rate is highly impractical. And i doubt kampung house rickety old electrical infrastructure could support EV wall box pulling power. Their electricals could overload & burn.
Only for the affordable, maintenance itself wil make u cry.
Maintenance of what in EV will make you cry?
It’s about the same globally . Even with adequate charging stations , there would be problems with whether the charging port is occupied or vacant
Charging times is way longer than a trip to the petrol stations
And from what is happening int the West , there will be transactional problems
Either the charging port is faulty or it doesn’t accept your green card , or credit card
Personally , I feel that it’s an individual choice .Many use their cars for daily commute to work , weekend trips to far off resort or the mall that is quite a distance away
Some , like me , only drive about 50km a week .( I’m probably the exception to the rule )
That’s why I’m now working on getting myself an EV
Recently , Volvo started assembling the XC 40 Recharge pure electric in Malaysia
Hopefully , because of this fact , road tax for EVs will be a little more reasonable after 2025
Fingers and toes crossed
Ya man… the XC40 EV 300 kw version is gonna cost RM 4503 for roadtax according to the https://paultan.org/2021/08/26/ev-road-tax-structure-in-malaysia-how-its-calculated-and-how-rates-are-different-for-sedans-and-non-sedans/
once the roadtax is back in place after the exemption.
I really think they should revise the structure cause nowadays in in near future these high powered EVs are gonna be common cause that’s how electric motors are… Even the Ioniq 5 AWD version is 225 kw which will cost RM 2703 for roadtax based on that structure.
People buying luxury car complaining about roadtax pricing? Thats a first. Then don’t buy a luxury EV for crap sakes. Go wait until EV is as cheap as a Axia before you consider.
What if there is already charge points all over west Malaysia. Would you buy the EV? What is the acceptable price point for you to put down a booking?
I think the hogging of charging bays by non-EVs is just as big a problem. It’s so rampant on the few charging facilities we have and is to me, a national embarrassment. I hope a law can be made to prohibit and penalize such an inconsiderate behavior or else more gonna suffer with more EV users and I hope I’m wrong but new charging bays can’t seem to keep up, it never has been able to do that
Hogging of charging bays by non-EVs are just as bad as Sinkie cars pumping our RON95. Duadua pun sama spesis berpelajaran tinggi tapi tak berotak.
orang kayangan ini mabuk, most malaysians cant afford the price of ev’s