Malaysia is expected to provide up to 4,000 charging points for electric vehicles (EV) this year, said the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). This effort falls under the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint 2021 – 2030, which aims to have EVs and hybrid vehicles account for at least 15% of the total industry volume in the country by 2030.
According to its Industrial Development Division senior director Datuk Hanafi Sakri, there are currently 900 charging points available across the country. He added that the 4,000 target for this year is still a small piece of a larger picture, as MITI further aims to have about 10,000 stations in Malaysia by 2025. These will comprise 1,000 units of direct current (DC) fast chargers and 9,000 units of alternating current (AC) regular chargers.
“Given the current momentum, I think we will be able to achieve the target,” he said during Malaysia’s EV conference 2023 today on 14 February 2023. Hanafi added that MITI fully supports the extension of the full import and excise duty exemptions for imported EVs until 31 December 2024.
Furthermore, he also added that the ministry has proposed to improve the EV ecosystem, particularly in terms of EV infrastructure to the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Hanafi hopes that the ministry will take the proposals into consideration and announce it during the next budget on Feb 24.
Today’s conference also saw Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) CEO Datuk Wira Arham, who is also the co-secretariat of the National EV Task Force (NEVTF), revealing that the authority too is aggressively pursuing investment opportunities in Malaysia – in addition to capitalising on prospects to spur the EV segment. He said MIDA is committed to attracting quality investments to support the related supply chain and ecosystem, particularly in critical EV components such as batteries, battery management systems, battery packs, artificial intelligence, onboard charging, charging infrastructure, and modular-based battery swapping technology.
(Source: The Edge)
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