MALAYSIA: The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) will be assisting Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) in producing Malaysia’s first electric vehicle (EV) under RM100,000 (S$30,435).
According to Malay Mail, MITI’s Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz shared that they are optimistic that Perodua is on track to meet its goal of producing electric vehicles by the end of 2025.
He said they want to assist and facilitate Perodua in making EVs more affordable for the public.
He added Perodua has been in discussions with MITI, and they are confident the company will achieve its target by the end of 2025, as he spoke after the JAC Motors Brand Launch on Monday.
Mr Zafrul noted as of September 2024, nearly 16,000 new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered in the country. This number has already surpassed the 13,000 BEVs registered throughout 2023.
He said this “positive momentum” is helping Malaysia get closer to its goal of having 20% of all vehicles be electric by 2030.
He explained that, for charging infrastructure, 565 new chargers were added in just three months. This brings the total number of public charging stations to nearly 3,200 by the end of September.
The plan is to reach 10,000 public chargers by the end of 2025, which would mean there is one charger for every nine electric vehicles.
Mr Zafrul also pointed out that the automotive industry is very important to Malaysia’s economy, contributing around 4% to the country’s GDP each year.
He added that with the fast growth of the electric vehicle market, “Malaysia is well-poised to capture a significant share of the Asean EV market,” which is expected to be worth US$2.7 billion (S$3.55 billion) by 2027. /TISG
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