Miti moots one-off subsidy to drive EV ownership

• Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong said the proposal was presented to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) during the National EV Steering Committee (NEVSC) meeting.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) has presented a proposal for a one-time subsidy for electric vehicle (EV) ownership to boost growth of the industry in Malaysia.

Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong (pictured) said the proposal was presented to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) during the National EV Steering Committee (NEVSC) meeting.

"It has been observed that this one-time subsidy can encourage people to switch from using internal combustion engine vehicles to EVs and further help the country reduce petrol subsidies for the long term.

“This suggestion is being fine-tuned by the MOF,” he said during the question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat on Wedesday.

Liew was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (PN-Kuala Kangsar) on whether there would be incentives to attract the M40 group, who can better afford EVs.

The Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint 2021-2030 announced by the government in 2020 outlines a target to have 10,000 EV charging stations by 2025, made up by 9,000 AC (alternating current) chargers and 1,000 DC (direct current) chargers.

In 2023, the annual sales volume of new battery EVs (BEVs) in the country increased by over 400% to 13,257 units compared to 3,127 units in 2022.

As at Dec 31, 2023, 2,020 charging stations have been installed in 750 locations across the country, of which 1,591 units are AC chargers, and the remaining 429 units are DC chargers.

Liew said the proposal to review the target of 10,000 EV charging stations was also raised in the NEVSC meeting, with Miti and other related agencies, namely the Malaysia Automotive Robotics and IoT Institute and Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation studying and fine-tuning the need to increase the DC charging stations target.

“The outcome of the study will be debated in the NEVSC meeting which will be held in the second quarter of this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, in response to an additional question from Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH-Tebrau), who asked if the government plans to consolidate EV charging system service fees under one application, Liew said the government intends to merge all applications for EV charging payments.

"But it requires the cooperation from charging point operators (CPOs) and the government is planning to hold discussions with the CPOs to create 'interoperability' with all companies," he added.

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