JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — Wide-ranging incentives offered by the government continue to boost the adoption of electric vehicles (EV) in Malaysia, a Malaysian official said here on Wednesday.

Tax exemptions in the form of road tax and import duties, as well as an electric motorcycle scheme for those earning below 120,000 ringgit (25,698 U.S. dollars) a year, are among the measures that have been rolled out, Norhasliza Mohd Mokhtar, senior director of Climate Action Group of Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) said during a side event at the Asia-Pacific Climate Week 2023 taking place from Nov. 13 to 17 in Johor Bahru, the capital of Malaysia’s Johor state.

“Incentives are one part of the strategy for greater adoption. We are pushing forward, especially on infrastructure, and we plan to have 10,000 charging stations by 2025,” she said, adding that the Malaysian government aims for 38 percent of transport to be based on EVs by 2040.

The MGTC is an agency under the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change.

Norhasliza explained that while incentives are part of the government strategy to boost EV adoption for private-use vehicles, there is also an emphasis on increasing the share of public transport based on EV platforms, with the government seeking to create greater awareness and introducing electric buses as part of its efforts.

“We hope that people will shift their mode of transportation from private to public with the aim of increasing the share to 40 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040,” she said.

Norhasliza said that many Asian countries are promoting the use of EVs, making Asia a leader in the development and adoption of EV technology. She praised China’s achievements in this respect, saying that “China with the leading EV sales… remains at the forefront of electric mobility with innovation in the advancement of battery technology.” (1 ringgit equals 0.21 U.S. dollar) 

Source: Xinhua