KUALA LUMPUR: A survey by business consulting firm Frost and Sullivan has found a latent demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in Malaysia.
Associate partner and senior vice president of mobility Vivek Vaidya said the survey found that Malaysians have a good understanding of EV technology and prices compared to conventional vehicles, as well as EVs’ association with renewable energy sources and environmental issues.
“This shows that Malaysians are quite well aware (of EVs) and therefore we believe that there is latent demand in the market for EVs,” he told reporters at a briefing on Malaysia’s Automotive Market Outlook 2019 here yesterday.
Elaborating on the survey, he said 37 per cent of the correspondents said that they were willing to consider an electric vehicle as their next product of choice, with about 50 per cent of them also saying they expected EVs to be more expensive than conventional cars.
He added that the percentages are considered to be very high in a market where electric vehicles are almost non-existent.
Vaidya said for EVs to progress, the government needs to outline any policy that could help develop EVs in the upcoming National Automotive Policy (NAP).
“Currently we have an Energy Efficient Vehicle (EEV) policy which tends to put all the vehicles into the same
bracket.
“If the government wants to pursue EVs, biofuel or compressed natural gas/liquefied petroleum gas (CNG/LPG) vehicles, there needs to be a focused incentive plan or focused ecosystem creation to make these products successful,” he said.
He said the NAP should also outline a clear definition of EVs, how the ecosystem would be created, how the vehicles would be manufactured and what incentives would be given. – Bernama
He added that the government should also clarify whether it wants to pursue zero emissions vehicles or low emissions vehicles. –Bernama
