THE Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) is encouraging the introduction of more affordable electric vehicles (EV) in Malaysia to advance the country’s EV industry, deputy secretary-general of industry Norazman Ayub said.

Norazman added that there will be EVs coming to Malaysia in the second quarter of this year priced from as low as RM120,000.

“We have now encouraged the importation of more EVs particularly from China, because we want to have more affordable vehicles for the rakyat,” he said in Kuala Lumpur.

Hence, in terms of infrastructure, Norazman said the government aims to provide at least 10,000 public charging points by 2025.

“We will be working with highway concessionaires such as PLUS Expressways Bhd for the charging stations.

“We want to invite investment in charging stations to be part of the development of the EV ecosystem,” he added.

Previously, International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said Malaysia is committed to attracting investments in the EV industry and achieving the national target of making electrified vehicles, including hybrid, account for 15% of the total industry volume by 2030.

Tengku Zafrul said the government is prioritising the development of the EV ecosystem and the Local Government Development Ministry’s town and country planning department is also drafting a circular to facilitate the approval process of charging stations at local government level. – Bernama, February 18, 2023.