Malaysian gov’t to begin switch to EVs in 2024, financial implications to be assessed – Nik Nazmi

Last year, during the tabling of Budget 2024, prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the federal government will replace its official cars with electric vehicles. The minister of natural resources and environmental sustainability Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad has since reiterated the premier’s comments, saying the transition will begin this year.

According to The Star, Nik Nazmi said the government will need to consider the financial implications on each agency before it is fully implemented. “As announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim last year, the government fleet will include EVs within this year.

“However, the implementation will not be done fully as it involves a huge number. We need to consider the financial implications as well,” he told reporters at the launch of the International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia (IGEM) 2024 yesterday.

Malaysian gov’t to begin switch to EVs in 2024, financial implications to be assessed – Nik Nazmi

As yet, it is still unclear whether the transition will be applied only to cars belonging to ministers or to lower government positions as well. We also do not know which EVs the government will be procuring for official use, although we can speculate.

Given that Tesla is a big part of the government’s push to encourage the widespread adoption of EVs, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Model 3s and Ys wearing official badges. The move could also dovetail nicely with the launch of Proton and Perodua’s EVs, which are slated to be on the market by 2025.

However, the government’s propensity for using larger vehicles – at least for ministerial purposes – may count these cars out. It may also want to consider locally-assembled CKD models like the Mercedes-Benz EQS500, but that car is prohibitively expensive at RM648,888 – and that’s tax-free.

In fact, there’s only one car that we can think of when it comes to a straight swap from the ministers’ beloved Toyota Vellfires, and that’s the Maxus MIFA 9. We’ve already speculated on the government’s use of the luxury electric MPV – particularly when we saw that the November launch was attended by Anwar and four other cabinet ministers.

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