PETALING JAYA: Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country have more than doubled in the first six months of this year to over 10,000 units, compared with the same period last year.

Based on figures by the Statistics Department, 10,663 EVs were sold as of June 30, compared with 4,409 EVs in the same period last year. A total of 13,301 EVs were sold in all of last year.Among the reasons for the increase were the competitive prices offered by certain EV manufacturers recently, along with several incentives announced by the government.

Based on the data, BYD continues to dominate the EV market here with the number of registered EVs increasing from 1,836 units last year to 4,368 units in the first six months of this year, or a 137.9% jump.

While Tesla may be lagging behind BYD, sales of Tesla EVs skyrocketed by nearly 17 times, from 174 units for 2023 to 3,079 units in the first six months of 2024.

Sales of other brands in the six months of this year include BMW (807), Chery (406), Roewe (216), Hyundai (147), Great Wall (272), Mercedes-Benz (323), Smart (282) and Neta (100).    

The increase in the sales of certain EV models was noted by Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming, who said this may be due to manufacturers slashing prices of certain models by as much as RM8,000, along with government incentives such as lower road tax and special plates for EVs.

However, he acknowledged that the rate of setting up EV charging stations was slow and still behind the target of 10,000 by 2025.

“Almost 3,000 EV charging bays will be set up by the end of this year.

“As such, I welcome private and foreign investors to set up more charging stations in the country,” he said when met recently.

Based on the Malaysia Electric Vehicle Charging Network (MEVnet) online map and dashboard, there are currently 2,585 EV charging stations nationwide.

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Of these, 1,069 are indoor charging stations and 1,516 are outdoor charging stations, comprising 1,976 AC (alternating current) charging stations and 609 DC (direct current or rapid) charging stations.

Based on the MEVnet map, most of the existing EV charging stations are located in the Klang Valley, Penang, Ipoh and Johor Baru, with an additional 4,019 charging stations proposed for this year.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/07/13/govt-incentives-also-behind-ev-boost