KUALA LUMPUR: A levy on every electric vehicle (EV) sold is being considered to establish a fund to expand Malaysia’s public EV charging network, says Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Minister said the proposal was being studied as the government faced constraints in financing a nationwide public charging infrastructure on the scale seen in China.
“We may impose a levy on every EV sold and channel the proceeds into a dedicated fund to build public charging stations.
Johari said the lack of public charging infrastructure remained the greatest challenge, particularly for residents of apartments and People’s Housing Programme (PPR) projects who were unable to install chargers at their homes.
Although EVs represent the future of mobility, a comprehensive public charging network is essential to support wider adoption across the country, he added.
The minister also said the government had previously granted exemptions on import duty, excise duty and sales tax for completely built-up (CBU) EVs for four years to spur market growth and attract investment.
However, the incentives resulted in forgone tax revenue of RM3.3bil over the period, while investment in public charging infrastructure fell short of expectations, he said.
“After four years, when we looked for public charging stations, the investment from EV industry players was simply not there,” he said in response to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Leong Ngah Ngah on the government’s preparedness for the growing adoption of EVs.
Johari said as a result, the government did not extend the incentives for imported EVs, but retained tax exemptions for completely knocked down (CKD) EVs until Dec 31, 2027, to continue supporting the development of the domestic EV industry.
The minister said incentives would only be granted to companies that genuinely develop Malaysia’s automotive ecosystem.
He said companies seeking government incentives must integrate local suppliers into their supply chains and support the growth of domestic vendors and component manufacturers.
“If companies bring in all their components from overseas, assemble and sell vehicles here, and expect incentives, we cannot allow that because it would undermine the automotive ecosystem we have built over the past 30 to 40 years,” he said.
Johari said Proton and Perodua had developed a network of about 733 Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 vendors, which account for between 72% and 82% of the country’s automotive component manufacturing activities.
He said Malaysia would continue to welcome EV investments, provided they generate greater economic value through local vendor development, technology transfer and the creation of high-skilled jobs.
