Shoppers checking out electric vehicles (EVs) at the StarCarSifu Auto Show 2025 in Mid Valley Megamall. — LOW LAY PHON/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Sales of fully imported electric vehicles (EV) surged by 33% last month with customers rushing to beat the EV tax holiday deadline on December 31.
The import tax and excise duty exemption for completely built-up (CBU) battery electric vehicles (BEV) was first announced in Budget 2022.
BEVs are cars that are fully electric, powered only by a battery pack, with no internal combustion engine to provide additional power.
Also announced in the Budget was a road tax exemption for all EVs - both CBU and complete knocked down (CKD) - which also expires after Dec 31, 2025.
Beginning January 1, all EVs will need to pay road tax, calculated based on the vehicle's power output.
Currently, all EVs in Malaysia enjoy full exemptions on import duty, excise duty, and road tax, although they remain subject to sales tax.
According to the latest available figures from the Road Transport Department, CBU BEV registrations rose to an all-time high of 4,282 units in November, the highest monthly figure recorded since 2000.
This was a sharp rise from 3,211 units in October and marked the fourth straight month of growth since August, when registrations stood at 2,557 units.
The best-selling CBU BEV this year are BYD’s Atto 3 and Sealion, with both models registered 3,569 units each from January 1 to November 30, followed by Tesla Model Y (3,490 units) and Tesla Model 3 (1,977 units).
In total, the combined CKD and CBU BEV registrations rose by 24.7% in November to 5,417 units compared to 4,345 units in the previous month.
Among manufacturers, BYD registered the most EVs with 1,705 units, followed by Tesla at 1,301 units and Proton at 830 units.
Perodua has launched its first-ever electric vehicle, the QV-E, with a total of 18 units registered in November.
Presently, five manufacturers have CKD facilities for BEVs, namely Proton, Perodua, Volvo, Chery, and Mercedes-Benz.
In addition, MG, Xpeng, BYD, Zeekr, iCaur, Leapmotor, TQ Wuling have also announced plans to set up CKD facilities in Malaysia next year.
