PUTRAJAYA: The number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Malaysia will be doubled to 4,000 by next year to support the government's plan to use EVs as official vehicles for Asean programmes, says Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the more than 2,000 existing EV charging stations, primarily located in urban centres, were sufficient to support the use of EVs as official vehicles for the Asean meetings scheduled for next year, which would be held in cities.
Fadillah stated that one approach to sustainability involved focusing on the energy sector, including EVs.
The Cabinet decided that Malaysia, as the Asean chair next year, would use EVs as official cars to transport heads of state and officials attending Asean meetings, he added.
"The plan now is to promote more EVs, and one step is to increase the number of charging stations. Our target is to have 10,000 stations nationwide by 2030, along with providing incentives for EV ownership.
"This is beneficial for the environment as it reduces carbon emissions from the transportation sector, and EVs are one of the approaches that the government is focusing on,” Fadillah told reporters after the opening of the 2024 National Planning Congress held in conjunction with World Town Planning Day 2024 on Tuesday (Oct 29).
He highlighted that accelerating the installation of charging stations would require involvement from not only Tenaga Nasional Bhd but also the private sector.
Fadillah explained that transitioning the transportation and manufacturing sectors could help Malaysia achieve the target of 40% renewable energy in the national fuel mix by 2030, an increase from the current 20%.
Efforts to increase EV usage must balance electricity supply security, safety and affordability, said Fadillah, who is also the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister.
On Monday (Oct 28), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that EVs would be used as official vehicles during Malaysia's chairmanship of Asean next year. – Bernama
