MARii: Better incentives for electric vehicles (EVs) in Malaysia by July 2021

Malaysia's accelerated electric vehicles (EV) policy could be unveiled by July 2021 if all things goes to plan, says the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Malaysia Automotive Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii), Dato' Madani Sahari.

Speaking at Eurocham's 'A New Start for Electric Vehicles In Malaysia' webinar earlier today, Dato' Madani shared that the accelerated policy encapsulates tax incentives as well as development of local technologies and talents.

Although the details are still being finalised and pending government approval, Dato' Madani shares that MARii is "expanding the scope of incentives to include users", citing direct incentives such as cheaper road tax, green parking schemes, charger installations, and toll rebates.

Apart from that, MARii is also looking into a "handsome level of tax exemptions", in the form of "huge reduction" of sales tax, import and excise duties for EVs, including plug-in electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV).

Additionally, Dato' Madani shared that industry players can apply for further assistance under a new customised incentive framework. Under this, there will be fixed incentives (like tax cuts) for manufacturers, but they'll also be offered "higher levels of incentives", depending on situation.

Dato' Madani also shared that the scope of the new policy will include passenger cars and bikes, as well as companies using EVs as a service, such as car-sharing platforms.

He also shared that this policy is still being tweaked following input from respective ministries. MARii hopes that the policy will be tabled with the Cabinet in June, and announced in July - should situations permit, of course.

Also read: Zero tax for EVs in Malaysia soon, but there's a catch