Malaysia Needs Massive Shift for Transition to EVs

Malaysia has witnessed a larger number of automakers entering the EV market, giving consumers more choices. And Tesla has taken the lead, having announced on July 20 that its mid-sized Model Y sports utility vehicle is open for booking online in the country. It’s also set to bring the Model 3 sedan into Malaysia. 

Other automobile manufacturers have taken similar approaches. Mercedes-Benz strives to have 30 percent of all its vehicles sold in Malaysia electrified by 2030. MARii CEO Azrul Reza Aziz said the market for EVs in Malaysia is set to be liberalized after 2025. He said more locally assembled CKD electric vehicles will arrive in the Malaysian market by 2025. “While the national target for EVs is for the type to comprise 15 percent of total industry volume by 2030, MARii predicts that EVs will reach that percentage even sooner. Based on our projections, we can achieve that target earlier than 2030.” 

As such, Malaysia is competing to attract the biggest companies and manufacturers as the EV industry is expected to grow exponentially in the future. Last month, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said EV was a priority for the country while the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) declared that Malaysia was on the right path to becoming an EV powerhouse in the region. 

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The EV sector in Malaysia is growing steadily with government policies. But it will take a massive shift for the country to transition to EVs for the country to become an industry powerhouse in the region. The growing EV sector in Malaysia is a positive reflection of the recent policies set by the government. 

Shahrol Halmi, the co-founder of the Malaysia Electric Vehicles Owners Club (MyEVOC), said Tesla’s move made the biggest news on EVs because many are surprised by how affordable it was compared to other brands. “BYD was a hot seller when it was launched earlier this year at RM170,000 but you don’t need to top up much more to get a Tesla model Y while a comparable BMW i4 is substantially higher in price.” 

The Malaysian market has seen the likes of Ora, Hyundai, Volvo, Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Neta among others.