Time to electrify your car? That Tesla and other attractive EVs are looking more tempting by the day!

Deciding whether to buy an electric vehicle (EV) is a tricky one in Malaysia. After all, petrol in Malaysia is considered cheap. According to globapetrolprices.com, Malaysia is ranked the 11th cheapest country in the world for petrol.

For many, petrol cars are still the default option. However, things could be changing. EV sales in 2024 grew by 19% to 45,562 units, and make up about 5.6% of total vehicle sales.

This article will provide a comprehensive guide to an EV in Malaysia and help you consider whether it is worth it to buy.

What is an Electric Vehicle?

If you think EVs all run on battery and electricity. Think again.

There are three types of EVs:

  1. Hybrids: Runs on electricity and petrol. However, it has a very small range from its electricity-only charge as its battery is very small in comparison to its petrol tank.
  2. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV): Similar with hybrid cars, but have bigger battery capacity and also a petrol tank. You can plug the vehicle to a power point and charge.
  3. Battery electric vehicles (BEV): Fully electric and doesn’t have a petrol tank.

In many people’s eyes and understanding, an EV is actually BEV by definition. So for the purpose of this article, when we cite EV, we are talking about BEV.

Price Range

EVs in Malaysia at the time of writing range from RM100,000 to as high as RM1 million. It depends on what features you are looking for and your budget.

Generally, these locally available EV brands have models in these price ranges.

  1. RM100,000 to RM150,000: BYD, MG, Great Wall Motor, Neta, Proton, GAC, Chery, Honda, Leap Motor, Dongfeng
  2. RM150,000 to RM300,000: BYD, Tesla, Xpeng, Great Wall Motor, Nissan, Zeekr, Mercedes, BMW, Hyundai, Volvo, Renault
  3. Above RM300,000: Porsche, Lotus, MG, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes, Volvo, Audi, Kia, Lexus, Xpeng

One local Malaysian car player is planning to introduce an EV that is priced below RM100,000 by the end of 2025.

However, there is a reason why most EVs are priced at a minimum of RM100,000. To protect the local car industry, the government has a strict policy in place for the minimum price of imported EVs to be at RM100,000.

If this policy is removed, EVs could cost as low as RM18,000.

Driving Range / Mileage

Similar to petrol cars, the mileage of an EV is dependent on the capacity of the battery. More expensive cars could have bigger capacity and vice versa.

For example, the Proton eMas 7 in the RM100k to RM150k has a total driving range of  345 km to 410 km on a full charge. Meanwhile, the Tesla Model 3 in the RM150k to RM300k has a range of 471 km to 540km.

Comparison Against a Petrol Car

The question on everyone’s mind – is it cheaper to fuel (or charge) and drive a petrol car or EV?

According to Tenaga Nasional Berhad, an EV is 11.4% to 28.3% cheaper than a petrol car. A petrol car needs an average of RM5,335 per year (RON95 petrol), while an EV would need about RM3,825 to RM4,725 per year to charge.

However, this is just a comparison on the fuel efficiency cost. EV cars are priced higher than petrol cars.

Let’s take RM100,000 as the initial cost of buying an EV, and compare it against a popular Perodua model that is priced at about RM50,000.

An EV buyer would have to put up an additional RM50k upfront, and would need about 33 years of savings (RM5,335 – RM3,825 = RM1,510, RM50,000 / RM1,510 = 33 years) to justify buying an EV.

That is why in the Malaysian context, owning a petrol car is still considered more affordable even though EVs are more cheaper to charge.

Charging Stations

One of the major concerns of EVs is the availability of charging stations. According to data from Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), there are 3,171 charging stations in Malaysia as of October 2024. It plans to achieve 10,000 by the end of 2025.

Most of it are located in the cities, with very little in the rural areas.

However, EV buyers can also opt to install their own home charging stations at home. As such, there are actually two different types of EV charging stations.

  • Level 1 Charger: A slow charger that you can just plug into any electrical outlet. Usually comes together with your EV.
  • Level 2 Charger: A fast charger that requires you to invest about RM1,650 to RM7,900 depending on how fast you want to charge. It requires new installation and equipment, and possibly a change of your home’s electricity phase to 3-phase

Insurance

Insurance for EVs could be more expensive due to one fact. EV cars are priced higher than petrol cars. And insurers typically charge premiums according to the value of the car.

However, that is not the only concern. Insurers are more familiar with insuring petrol cars as they have had a long time to understand them and price accordingly. EVs are still relatively new, hence, insurers might be more cautious about insuring them.

There are three main things to insure in an EV

  1. Battery: Batteries could make up up to 40% of an EV value.
  2. Charging station: At risks of fire damage due to high electricity usage when charging.
  3. Repair and maintenance: Different technology requirements compared to petrol cars. Less service providers for EV currently.

Maintenance and Repairs

It’s hard to say whether maintenance and repairs for EVs are more expensive compared to petrol cars. After all, different cars have different specifications and technology.

Generally, EVs have longer service intervals, which means you don’t need to service EVs as much. These are the common maintenance that you need to do for an EV:

  1. Battery: Typically last 10 to 20 years. Manufacturers normally provide 8 to 10 years of warranty.
  2. Tire: Same as regular tires for petrol cars.
  3. Brake: EVs brake systems are regenerative, which means that the brakes recapture past of the lost energy from braking back into the battery.
  4. Coolant system: Very important as the EV battery need to be at cooler temperatures to prevent it from degrading.
  5. Software: Implemented in most EVs now.

Take note that the battery could be the most expensive part to replace, costing from RM30,000 to RM100,000.

Government Incentives

There are several government incentives that you can take advantage:

  1. Road tax exemption for EVs until end of 2025
  2. Tax break for fully-imported EVs until end of 2025
  3. Excise duty and sales tax exemption for EVs assembled in Malaysia until end of 2027
  4. Income tax relief of up to RM2,500 for installation of subscription of EV charging facilities up to 2027

Conclusion

Making a decision to buy EV in Malaysia is a hard one. Petrol is still considered cheap, while petrol cars sales still make up 94% of total car sales. However, with the expected implementation of targeted fuel subsidy (petrol prices expected to increase for some income groups) and the government’s push to have 80% of cars comprising of EVs by 2050, switching to them could be easier moving forward.

Take this opportunity to review this guide to make your EV decision now.

 

Let us know in the comments below on whether you are switching to an EV!

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