Perodua’s First EV Set to Enter Production in 2025 – Zafrul

Perodua is set to begin the production of its first-ever EV model as early as 2025

It is no secret that Perodua is in the midst of developing its first-ever EV model, and we might see this future sub-RM100,000 EV come into fruition much sooner than expected.

MITI minister YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Abdul Aziz

As announced by the Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Abdul Aziz via his official Facebook page, the second national automaker is scheduled to begin the production of its first EV model later in 2025. This is in-line with the minister’s New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030), where Perodua is elected to lead the production of affordable EVs.

“Thanks to Perodua for helping Malaysia in developing electric vehicle technology and strengthen sustainable mobility in the country,” Zafrul added.

Perodua CEO Dato' Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad 

As further noted by the MITI minister, Perodua’s first EV model will be co-developed with an ‘international company’. Though not explicitly mentioned, Perodua CEO Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad previously confirmed that said company will be the marque’s current technical partner and shareholder, Daihatsu, which is owned by Toyota.

To date, Daihatsu does not have any production EVs for sale in both Japan and other international markets, meaning that P2 could take the driving seat for the development of its first EV model. The Japanese automaker, however, did preview an EV concept based on the Ayla supermini in Indonesia last year, though no announcement regarding its production was made.

Additionally, this announcement is also in-line with Perodua’s electrification roadmap. As presented by the firm’s CEO, Perodua targets having 20% of its sales come from EVs and hybrids by the end of this decade. Although Perodua has no electrified models currently on sale in its lineup, the introduction of both the upcoming D66B hybrid SUV and the new EV model later in 2025 could be enough for P2 to reach its ambitious goal.

Perodua Electric Motion Online concept EV displayed at the Malaysia Auto Show 2023

Apart from that, Perodua has also previewed the initial concept of its first EV model, known as the Electric Motion Online (EMO). Displayed as a 1:6 scale model at the Malaysia Auto Show last year, this study concept was envisioned to feature an all-electric driveline powered by a 50-kWh battery pack that can accept DC charging at up to 300 kW. According to Perodua, this battery setup is good enough to provide this B-segment EV concept with a maximum EV range between 300 and 350 KM.

Perodua MyEV concept rendered by local render artist Chin Swee Hoe/ @Theottle

To help with your imagination on what Perodua's first-ever EV model would look like, you can check out this Perodua MyEV concept rendered by renowned local artist Chin Swee Hoe (@Theottle). Using the current third-gen Myvi and the EMO concept as the basis, Throttle managed to blend both models seamlessly, creating this cool-looking EV hatchback that we’d reckon is good enough to be an actual production model.