POSITIVE POLICIES ATTRACT INVESTORS

In August, EP Manufacturing Berhad – a local auto parts manufacturer – signed a memorandum of understanding with BAIC Motor Corporation Ltd – one of China’s largest automobile groups – to develop local production of vehicles including EVs in Malaysia.

Chinese automaker Geely – which holds a 49.9 per cent stake in Malaysian manufacturer Proton – meanwhile will invest RM30 billion in the development and commercialisation of the Automotive High-Tech Valley (AHTV) in Tanjung Malim, Perak with a focus on EV.   

But Mr Shahrol Halmi, the co-founder of the Malaysia Electric Vehicles Owners Club (MyEVOC) told CNA that Tesla’s moves made the biggest news on EVs because many were surprised by how “affordable” it was in relation to other brands. 

“It is very big news. 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,” he said.

There are more than 40 models of EVs currently being sold in the Malaysian market.

Besides Tesla, they include models from newer brands in the Malaysian market such as BYD, Ora and Neta from China as well as BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, Hyundai and even Rolls Royce. 

Mr Shahrol believes Malaysia’s EV push began when the government approved the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (LCMB) in Oct 2021, a policy framework that sought to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, ranked as the second-largest emitter of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) after the energy sector.

During the 2022 Budget, the government announced full exemption from import and excise duties as well as sales tax for EVs, road tax exemption for EVs, and income tax reliefs for the purchase of charging facilities. 

The government this year then extended import duty exemptions for components for the local assembly of EVs, the excise duty and sales tax exemptions for locally assembled completely knocked down (CKD) EVs to 2027, as well as the import and excise duty exemptions on imported completely built-up (CBU) units to 2025.

CBU refers to cars that are imported while CKDs are cars manufactured in the country. 

EV users also don’t have to pay road tax until 2025.