By Niam Seet Wei
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — A year ago, during my Wolfson Press Fellowship at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, I was grappling with a question I was not entirely sure I wanted to answer.
Is Malaysia really ready for the battery electric vehicle (BEV) transition?
During the 10-week fellowship under the Khazanah Residency Programme in 2025, my research focused on Malaysia’s push into the EV industry, titled “Malaysia’s Passenger BEV Push: Global Pressure Or Local Demand? And Why The Mainstream Media Silence?”
The study delved into whether Malaysia’s pursuit of passenger BEVs was genuinely driven by domestic demand or by global pressure, particularly as the country remains an oil and gas producer and exporter, with fuel historically heavily subsidised, making petrol a relatively affordable and accessible option.
My concern was not that Malaysia should reject BEVs, but rather whether the economic and infrastructure that supported EV adoption in countries such as Norway and China could simply be replicated here.
Additionally, the electricity grid is still transitioning towards cleaner sources, while BEV charging infrastructure remains uneven.
As of May 31, 2026, only 6,416 public chargers had been completed, far short of the earlier target of 10,000 public chargers by the end of 2025.
Charging Infrastructure
The government’s recent proposal to impose a levy on BEV sales to help fund public charging infrastructure is another development that could shape the next phase of Malaysia’s EV transition.
Malaysia clearly needs more charging facilities as the number of BEVs grows.
Recently, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani cited China’s experience as an example, saying he had asked China’s Minister of Commerce how the country had achieved such strong EV adoption.
He was informed that China’s BEV success was supported by billions of dollars in government spending on public charging stations.
Meanwhile, Malaysia could have collected an additional RM3.3 billion in tax revenue if exemptions for imported completely built-up (CBU) EVs had not been introduced between 2022 and 2025.
China’s experience suggests that charging infrastructure can play an important role in giving potential EV buyers the confidence to make the switch, although its BEV success was supported by a combination of factors, including government incentives and local manufacturing.
This brings us back to the classic chicken-and-egg problem.
People hesitate to buy BEVs because there are not enough chargers, while companies hesitate to build chargers because there are not enough BEVs.
While the proposed levy could help fund the expansion of the charging network, it could also add to the cost of BEV ownership at a time when affordability remains an important consideration.
The Electricity Grid
There is also a wider infrastructure issue beyond the number of charging stations, and that is the electricity grid itself.
In my Wolfson research, I used Tesla’s Supercharger as an illustration.
A 250-kilowatt (kW) charger operating at full capacity for one hour would consume 250-kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity, roughly equivalent to the daily electricity consumption of 12 Malaysian households based on the household consumption figure used in my research.
At a station with four or five such chargers operating for eight hours, the theoretical consumption could reach 8,000 to 10,000kWh a day, equivalent to the daily consumption of about 370 to 462 households.
Of course, chargers do not operate continuously at maximum capacity. But the illustration highlights an important point. The transition is not only about cars and charging stations, but also about electricity infrastructure.
If Malaysia eventually has millions of BEVs on the road, it will need sufficient electricity generation, stronger networks and increasingly, cleaner sources of power.
This is why the case for BEV adoption cannot simply be “because it is greener”. For mass adoption, there has to be a compelling economic proposition as well.
Malaysians Want More BEVs, But Can They Afford Them?
Effective July 1, 2026, Malaysia’s BEV policy has entered another phase as the government ended tax exemptions for imported CBU BEVs that had been in place since 2022.
The new requirements include a minimum RM200,000 cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value and 180kW of power, aimed at encouraging local assembly and strengthening the domestic automotive ecosystem.
From an industrial policy perspective, this is understandable. Encouraging more local assembly could help Malaysia attract investment, develop local capabilities and create higher-value activities within the automotive sector.
But the policy could affect the pricing and availability of some imported models as higher prices could slow BEV adoption, particularly among price-sensitive consumers.
Another question is about renewable energy incentives.
The Solar for Rakyat Incentive Scheme (SolaRIS), which previously offered rebates of up to RM4,000 for residential solar installations, has been replaced by the Sustainable Rebate and Incentive Assistance (SuRIA) Home programme, with the new rebate being effective June 1, 2026 until Dec 31, 2026.
The programme provides a rebate of RM600 per kilowatt alternating current (kWac), capped at RM3,000 on a first-come, first-served basis.
Such adjustments are part of the normal process of refining government incentives as markets develop.
However, the relatively short duration of the programme also raises a question about policy certainty for households making long-term investments.
For someone considering a BEV, a home charger and perhaps solar panels, these are not short-term purchases. A BEV can remain on Malaysian roads for more than a decade, while a solar installation is also a long-term investment.
Consumers may therefore look beyond the incentive available today and consider whether the broader policy environment will remain supportive in the years ahead.
Petrol, The Cheaper Option
Then there is the elephant in the room, the petrol price.
For eligible Malaysians, RON95 has been priced at RM1.99 per litre since Sept 30, 2025, down from RM2.05 previously.
From a consumer’s perspective, cheap petrol makes BEVs financially less attractive, although higher oil prices can increase the government’s cost of fuel subsidies.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said Malaysia’s monthly fuel subsidy bill rose from around RM700 million in January and February to RM5 billion in March, before reaching RM7.5 billion in April as tensions in West Asia pushed global oil prices higher.
The bill has since moderated to around RM3.5 billion to RM4 billion as oil prices came down.
This was one of the issues I explored in my Wolfson research.
If petrol remains cheap at RM1.99 a litre, the decision to purchase a BEV is unlikely to be based on running costs alone and it does not necessarily mean Malaysia needs to choose between affordable petrol and BEV adoption.
Rather, it underscores the challenge of balancing affordability, fuel subsidies and the transition to cleaner transport.
Can The Odds Be Defied?
The picture could look different if more affordable BEV models enter the Malaysian market, more vehicles are assembled locally, and charging facilities become more widely available.
I genuinely hope that happens.
Malaysia has a good opportunity to be part of the shift towards BEVs while also building its own automotive industry.
But for me, the success of the BEV transition should not be measured simply by how many BEVs are sold. It should also be about whether ordinary Malaysians can afford them, charge them without too much hassle and feel assured about owning one.
Perhaps that is the real question Malaysia needs to answer.
Can we keep transport affordable, manage fuel subsidies, build enough charging stations and ensure we have enough electricity, while encouraging more Malaysians to switch to BEVs?
I asked this question a year ago. Today, I still do not have a definitive answer.
But I hope that when I look back another year from now, Malaysia will have a more positive resolution to this conundrum.
–BERNAMA
