Malaysia considers EV levy for charging network

Malaysia's Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Johari Abdul Ghani announced that the government is considering imposing a levy on every electric vehicle (EV) sold to establish a dedicated fund for expanding the country's public EV charging network. The proposal is being studied as the government faces budget constraints in financing nationwide charging infrastructure comparable to China's. The minister noted that previous tax exemptions for imported CBU EVs resulted in RM3.3 billion in forgone revenue over four years, yet investment in public charging stations fell short of expectations, with only slightly more than 1,000 chargers available. Consequently, the government did not extend incentives for imported EVs but retained tax exemptions for CKD EVs until December 31, 2027, to support the domestic EV industry. The government also emphasized that incentives will only be granted to companies that integrate local suppliers and support the domestic automotive ecosystem, citing Proton Mail and Perodua's network of about 733 vendors. The lack of public charging infrastructure remains the biggest challenge to EV adoption, particularly for apartment residents. The Malaysia — Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Malaysia) has set a new target of 30,000 public chargers by 2030 and is working with Tenaga Nasional to build more power substations.