Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - The Malaysian government is considering imposing a levy on every electric vehicle (EV) sold to establish a fund for expanding the country’s public EV charging network, to support rising EV adoption and address gaps in charging infrastructure.
Speaking during a question-and-answer session in the Senate on August 5, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Johari Abdul Ghani said the proposal followed the government's loss of 3.3 billion MYR (825 million USD) in tax revenue through incentives for imported EVs, while investment in public charging infrastructure had fallen short of expectations.
Johari said Malaysia needs a sustainable mechanism to finance the rollout of public charging stations. Under the proposal, a levy will be imposed on every EV sold, with the proceeds channelled into a dedicated fund for building charging stations.
The government can not rely solely on vehicle manufacturers or distributors to undertake such investments, he noted.
On EV adoption, Johari said the lack of public charging infrastructure remained the biggest challenge, particularly for residents of apartments and People's Housing Programme (PPR) projects who were unable to install chargers at their homes.
Malaysia had previously granted exemptions on import duty, excise duty and sales tax for completely built-up (CBU) EVs for four years from 2022-2025 to spur market growth and attract investment. The incentives resulted in forgone tax revenue of 3.3 billion RMY over the period.
As a result, the government did not extend the incentives for imported EVs, but retained tax exemptions for completely knocked down (CKD) EVs until December 31, 2027, to continue supporting the development of the domestic EV industry./.
