Speaking at the press conference of the Malaysia Motor Expo and International Automodified KL 2023 yesterday, the Malaysian Automotive Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) chairman, Datuk Phang Ah Tong reiterated the country's goals in the electric vehicles (EV) space, and welcomes incentives to make such vehicles affordable to consumers.

Datuk Phang said, "There's going to be a major shift from internal combustion engines (ICE) to EVs, but they're still very expensive. Globally, most of the EVs are still around USD 40,000 (~RM 190,000), and also depends a lot on government incentives," he added.

"Malaysia is looking at also going heavily into looking at the incentives provided by the government, such as most of the exemptions, such as import duty exemption, sales tax exemption, even in the Budget that has to be retabled," said Datuk Phang.

Also read: Perodua EVs planned; Malaysia targets EVs to make up 15% of TIV by 2030

"We're targeting 1 million TIV (total industry volume) by 2030, in which 15 percent (or roughly 150,000 units) will be EVs. We are also targeting infrastructure support that must be there, that is 10,000 charging stations by 2025. We are working on that, based on AC as well as DC charging stations."

He added that the government is working closely with MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) and Tenaga Nasional (TNB) to build up these infrastructures in the greater goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Also read: Will TNB be the next Petronas? First EV charging hub in Malaysia expected by 2023

Datuk Phang also said that autoshows in Malaysia "will see an increasing number of EV participation" besides regular cars.

One such example would be the upcoming Malaysia Motor Expo that's to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) from 11- to 13-November 2021, which will feature Great Wall Motor (makers of the Ora range of EVs) among the long list of exhibitors.

Also read: Feast your eyes and score deals at the Malaysia Motor Expo, happening from 11- to 13-Nov 2022