The Malaysian government does not plan to extend the exemption of road tax for battery-electric vehicles in Malaysia past its present end date of December 31, 2025, the minister of investment, trade and industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz has said in a written parliamentary reply to Tebrau member of parliament Jimmy Puah Wee Tse.
In June last year, the government announced the revised road tax structure for EVs which is based on the vehicle’s power outputs in kilowatts (kW) and grouped in bands; see our table of the new rates, here.
Perusing the numbers from the cheapest EV currently on sale in Malaysia, the Neta V at RM100,000 OTR without insurance, the compact model with a 70 kW output (95 PS/160 Nm) will have RM40 in road tax imposed. From national brand Proton is the eMas 7 with 160 kW (218 PS/320 Nm), which all but matches the MINI Cooper SE with 218 PS and 330 Nm, therefore both of these will get a road tax bill of RM180.
The bestselling EV of 2024 in Malaysia, the BYD Atto 3 with its 150 kW (204 PS/310 Nm) powertrain, is up for RM160 in road tax. Towards the top end of the road tax price table, the Lotus Eletre R with its 675 kW (918 PS/985 Nm) will be tagged with RM4,890 in road tax.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has said in January that the tax break for fully imported EVs currently in place needs to be extended to 2030 in order to meet the country’s target EV adoption rate of 15% of total sales volume by 2030.
“EVs are still at the infancy stage. There is a need for the government to nurture and support the growth of EVs, especially in terms of incentives. So, the government should consider expanding the present tax incentive, especially for CBU EVs. Our feeling or alignment is at least until 2030, basically in line with the aspiration of the government to meet the 15% EV objective,” MAA president Mohd Shamsor Mohd Zain said in January.
The road tax exemption for EVs is of course separate from the current exemption of import duty and excise duty for fully imported (CBU) EVs, which is in place until the same date, December 31, 2025, while those of locally assembled (CKD) EVs are in place until December 31, 2027. This exemption for EVs in Malaysia was first announced during the tabling of Budget 2022 in October 2021, and took effect at the start of 2022.
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