Last Friday, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim mentioned during the Budget 2025 announcement in Parliament that he encouraged Malaysians to transition to electric vehicles (EVs).
He highlighted that the government has updated the EV tax incentives to motivate people to choose locally-made CKD electric vehicles, especially since Perodua is planning to create its own EVs.
EVs Under RM100,000
To support this effort, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) is stepping in to help Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) produce Malaysia’s first electric vehicle (EV) that will be priced under RM100,000.
The Edge Malaysia reported that Former Minister of Finance, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz mentioned that MITI is hopeful that Perodua will hit its goal of producing the EV by the end of 2025.
Making EVs more affordable
Zafrul shared that Perodua has been in talks with MITI, and they’re feeling optimistic about reaching this target, aiming to help make EVs more affordable for everyone.
He also pointed out that as of September, nearly 16,000 new passenger battery EVs (BEVs) have been registered in Malaysia this year, which is already more than the roughly 13,000 BEVs registered throughout all of 2023.
“We believe Malaysia is in a strong position”
Zafrul noted how this positive momentum is bringing them closer to their goal of having 20% of the total industry volume made up of EVs by 2030.
“In just 3 months, they added 565 new chargers, which brings the total public charging stations to nearly 3,200 by the end of September. Aiming for 10,000 public chargers so we can reduce the ratio of chargers to EVs to one charger for every nine EVs by the end of 2025,” he added.
He also noted that Malaysia’s automotive industry is a key part of the country’s economy, contributing about 4% to the nation’s GDP each year.
With the fast growth of the EV market, Malaysia is in a great position to grab a big share of the ASEAN EV market, which is expected to hit US$2.7 billion (RM11.6 billion) by 2027.
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Also read: Budget 2025: Govt Urges M’sians to Transition to EVs, Perodua Plans to Release EVs Under RM100k