More needs to be done: Among the main obstacles cited behind EV adoption was the lack of supercharging stations in the country and lack of data. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Budget 2024 has to do more to encourage Malaysians to switch to electric vehicles (EV), says Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders Association of Malaysia vice-president Raja Petra Marudin Raja Nordin.
The budget will introduce a scheme to provide rebates of up to RM2,400 for electric motorcycle ownership for individuals earning below RM120,000 annually, which is aimed at enticing the lower income group to make the switch.
However, Raja Petra does not think the incentive is sufficiently attractive.
“The cheapest EV bike in the market is about RM20,000, but a full tank for an underbone (kapchai) bike is still less than RM10,” he said.
Raja Petra said the four-year extension of tax exemptions of up to RM2,500 for EV charging facilities is a good policy only if there is clarity on how the income tax deduction would work.
“Overall, there are not many new incentives, except for the electric motorcycle initiative and Prasarana’s commitment towards electrification.
“We were expecting more incentives to be tabled for the manufacturing sector as it involves foreign direct investment and competition with neighbouring countries,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Electric Vehicles Owners Club president Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi welcomed the extension of the RM2,500 income tax exemption for EV-charging related expenses.
“This will help accelerate EV charging infrastructure growth in the country.
“This will also further enliven the services side for EV infrastructure, increasing demand for skilled technicians, and creating new green jobs,” he said.
Shahrol also said incentives for electric motorcycles would facilitate motorcyclists to transition to EV as it would narrow the price gap between EV and petrol bikes.
“We hope that these incentives will only be applied to motorcycles that have passed international and domestic safety standards in order to ensure users’ safety,” said Shahrol, who also hoped that there would be more effort to make public the statistics on the number of fully electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and combustion-only passenger cars on a timely basis.
“Making more data available will also encourage more investment as this helps investors plan and manage their risks,” he said.
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Centre of Automotive Research and Electric Mobility researcher Mohd Syaifuddin Mohd hailed the RM2,400 rebate for electric motorcycle ownership,
“The potential owners who use electric motorcycles with a daily commuting range of less than 100km will benefit most, as the rebate can reduce the purchase price by around 30%, on top of much lower energy cost per km travelled,” he said.
Mohd Syaifuddin said that among the main obstacles behind EV adoption is the lack of supercharging stations in the country.
“While the full tax exemption for EV charging equipment is good, perhaps Putrajaya can help subsidise supercharging stations in areas where there is less demand for EVs or in strategic locations away from Klang Valley.
“It is a chicken-and-egg problem, where people don’t want to buy EVs due to a lack of supercharging stations in their areas, and companies don’t want to deploy charging stations in areas where there is a perceived lack of demand for EVs,” he said.
