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It is a far cry from the pre-Covid-19 figure of only about 470 BEVs in Malaysia .
International Trade and Industry ( MITI ) minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the government strongly supported the expansion of EVs . He said the government aimed for EVs and hybrid vehicles to consist of 15 per cent of total industry volume ( TIV ) by 2030 and 38 per cent of TIV by 2040 .
It appears to be a very ambitious target , so long as the cheapest BEVs are high-cost ( Rich Men ’ s Toys ?) models that remain beyond the affordability of the M40 and the B40 segments of the population .
However , Natural Resources , Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad recently said the government was looking into ways to bring affordable EVs priced less than RM100,000 into the local market .
He told Bernama that Proton would introduce Geely-produced EVs , which could be offered at lower prices if locally assembled .
Though this commitment is welcome , the BEVs in this segment must still be suitable for use by the respective target purchasers , which would need a significantly complex and compromise / optimisation exercise .
Would a vehicle , as depicted here , satisfy the M40 ( or B40 ?) purchaser ’ s overall family needs ? It may be an attractive option as a “ second car ” used for local urban travel , such as for shopping or sending the children to and from school , but not all such buyers can afford multiple private cars .
LUCRATIVE INCENTIVES IS OSTENSIBLY
The government ’ s promotion of EVs with very lucrative incentives is ostensibly an initiative to reduce carbon emissions from privately owned motor transport . The bulk of the BEV sales is in P . Malaysia , where about 90 per cent of the electricity generation is from fossil fuels . At best such emission reductions would only be marginal .
Therefore , do lucrative incentives for BEV buyers contribute to road transport
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emission reductions , or are they merely “ sweeteners ” for the well-to-do citizens to enjoy BEVs as “ Rich Men ’ s Toys ”?
Electrification of road transport can be far more effective in reducing carbon emissions if the existing diesel-powered public transport segment , such as passenger buses and taxis , and delivery vehicles in townships , are replaced with BEV power systems . These vehicles travel much longer distances in urban areas , and the heavier vehicles consume diesel oil , which is not a benign fossil fuel but is also highly subsidised .
Therefore , it is surprising that there is virtually no announcement to incentivise maximum and urgent electrification for the type of vehicles that can most effectively help reduce emissions in urban areas . After all , Malaysia already has a
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( limited ) fleet of battery electric buses .
Privately owned road vehicles that deserve attractive incentives are the basic ( mild ) hybrid electric vehicles ( HEVs ) which are affordable for the M40 and even for the B40 wage earners and sell in much larger numbers than BEVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles ( PHEVs ).
They would contribute far more to emission reductions due to their large sales numbers . Moreover , HEVs do not require the costly battery charging infrastructure that BEVs demand .
So can we look forward to a bit of change in the EV promotion incentives regime now that we have a new and more rakyat-centric government in power , or do we continue to “ bark up the wrong tree ” and incentivise the rich at the expense of the M40 and B40 citizens ?– @ Green
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Low carbon mobility starts with green public transport , not private cars . |
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