While sales of electric vehicles in Malaysia jumped by around 860% last year to 2,631 units compared to 2021’s tally of 274 vehicles, much more needs to be done in order for the country to meet its electrification targets as outlined in the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (LCMB), according to the Zero Emission Vehicle Association (ZEVA).
The association, made up of a number of stakeholders – such as Tenaga Nasional, BMW Malaysia, Gentari, Pekema and chargEV, among others – working on developing a battery electric vehicle ecosystem in Malaysia, said that the aim of having EVs making up 15% of new car sales annually by 2030 would mean that 700,000 EVs would be on the road by 2030, based on its calculations running off the EV scenario in 2022.
As of end-2022, the association estimated that aside from around 2,200 battery EVs, there are almost 40,000 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) as well as 2,600 electric motorcycles and over 100 electric buses, which is a mere 6% from the 700,000 units expected to be in place by 2030. With only eight more years to go, ZEVA said that if there was no intervention, the country would fall 15 times behind its national target.
While it appreciates the incentives announced by the government in Budget 2023, the association believes that additional, longer term incentives are needed to catalyse the expected EV growth trajectory. It said that while more approval permits are being issued for foreign EV to be sold in the country, it believed that the charging industry also needs to step up.
At present, the number of EV chargers in the country is estimated to be close to 800 for AC units and 100 for DC fast chargers, which is less than 10% of the target of having 10,000 chargers by 2025, as outlined in the LCMB. This issue needs to be solved, as the top two concerns in EV adoption are driving range anxiety and the lack of a destination charging infrastructure.
Following a series of internal discussions and engagements with the automotive industry, end users, public transportation providers, fleet companies and several government agencies, ZEVA realises that in order for the charging industry to grow, the ‘hidden cost’ of doing business needs to be resolved. This includes that for facilities, such as the cost of land for the new power supply sub-station, new cable trenching as well as mechanical, civil and electrical consultancy work, among other things.
Asking the government to step in with support, it said first movers will appreciate the assistance, as their asset will only be utilising a fraction of the full capacity of these facilities. Subsequent players looking to deploy their chargers nearby will be able to easily leverage these existing facilities, thus encouraging more to invest, ZEVA said.
The association has proposed incentives for the government to consider in the formulation of the revised Budget 2023, which will be tabled on February 24. These include start-up cost incentives for any local/city councils interested in setting up public charging catering to 20 vehicles in a city, funding allocation capped at RM500k for each rest area catering for six DC chargers on highways, and a grant for non-landed property managers for the installation of an EV charger, capped at RM10,000 each.
Besides the above, ZEVA also proposes a matching grant for R&D on EVs, specially catered for the automotive industry, as well as a cash rebate for trade-ins of petrol/diesel vehicles for EVs and cash incentives for the purchase of a new EV on top of the tax exemptions already in place (EVs are already on sale at virtually tax-free prices, with free road tax until end-2025 to boot).
Additionally, as the government has been talking more and more about targeted fuel subsidy restructuring, ZEVA said that the savings gained from the T20 group fuel subsidy can be used to incentivise the charging infrastructure. It said that its initial calculations indicated that all the incentives it is proposing above will only take up a small percentage of the fuel subsidy savings, at around 16.5%.
The association has also proposed that the government extend the existing incentives to 2030 to give room for the industry to respond. It said that with all these in place, the country will be able to attain the 700,000 unit mark with EVs by 2030.
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The road tax for EV not very encouraging if you buy european brands.better stick to petrol or diesel.
EV is a scam lah.. toys for the rich
I think there forgot about the high road tax beyond 2025.
New Msia, tax the poor subsidise the rich. This is what we voted for.
How come everything is about EV interest and subsidy ending only? How many can afford EV today???? You people thought RM10k income per household for the T20 is a big deal today in Klang Valley or big cities!!! Anyway, be prepared to lose the elections due to inflation!!!! Orang Malaysia memang pelupa if they have forgotten the hyper inflation pressure when fuel price for RON95 was increased to RM2.70 per litre during Abdullah Badawi’s time.
The car sellers just wanted to sell the EV so that more people will buy their car. But has the govt forgotten how many can really afford to buy them including paying the road tax once the incentive is over????
Should provide free highway usage and free public parking for ev
Government shouldn’t be offering rebate for car buyers instead should just offer income tax rebate for taxpayers who opt to buy the more expensive EVs.
Gov should also offer a slightly better electricity tariffs to individual owners who own an EV.
Why rich need incentive?
The rich most likely accumulated their wealth from careful financial planning. If there’s no incentives, and things are “not worth it”, they won’t spend their money.
Without the spending, money doesn’t circulate. And when that happens, economy merosot la.
Over simplification maybe, but I think that’s the idea.
Thanks for the groundbreaking fundings, really. So what’s next?
Why cut our fuel subsidy for the normal rakyat to finance EV infra for the rich T20? Rich people dont drive alot they fly overseas instead. Only the M40 and B40 jalan jalan cari makan cuti cuti Malaysia lah. Why gov so calculative towards us the normal people? Oso rich people only can afford EV, hybrid cars..