RHB: Malaysia’s EV Surge Hits a Charging Roadblock

Electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Malaysia continues to accelerate, but analysts warn that charging infrastructure remains far behind what is needed to support rising demand.

RHB Investment Bank analyst Iftaar Hakim Rusli noted that Malaysia had only 4,161 EV charging bays (EVCB), with another 4,477 planned. However, these figures come from MEVNet, which has not been updated since March 2025.

More recent data from MyZEVA lists 5,109 bays - 1,694 DC and 3,415 AC - putting Malaysia’s current charger-to-EV ratio at roughly 1:14.

This remains far from MyZEVA’s ideal benchmark of 1:8 set in Dec 2024. Malaysia had briefly improved from a ratio of 1:11 in Q3 2024 to 1:10 in Q4, but the situation has since slipped as EV sales continue to outpace charger rollout.

Despite this widening gap, long queues at public chargers are still uncommon. Most current EV owners live in landed homes with access to private charging, and do not rely heavily on public infrastructure.

Many households also own more than one vehicle. As a result, long-distance travel is often done in an ICE or hybrid car, reducing pressure on the public charging network.

This dynamic, however, is likely to change. With more affordable EVs from Proton and Perodua entering the market, younger and more urban buyers are expected to dominate future demand.

These new adopters are more likely to live in high-rise residences and depend on shared charging, which could significantly increase utilisation at public stations.

A telling example is the writer's own condominium. Initially, no residents owned an EV. After two ChargeSini shared chargers were installed, over 20 residents switched within a year, prompting plans for two additional chargers.

This underscores a clear trend: accessibility to chargers creates adoption, not the other way around.

Infrastructure challenges remain significant. Iftaar highlighted grid capacity as the main constraint, especially for DC fast chargers, which require costly and time-consuming upgrades.

This limits installation at malls, commercial sites and particularly high-rise residences, where building management approval, shared infrastructure and safety concerns add further hurdles.

EV registrations reached 26,928 units as of Sept, already surpassing last year’s 21,789 total and pushing EV penetration to 5.64% of total industry volume.

Yet government progress remains unclear. Despite numerous announcements of new councils, committees and task forces related to EV infrastructure, tangible updates are scarce.

There has been no clear timeline, no visible acceleration, and no revision of the target of 10,000 chargers by end-2025, a goal that increasingly looks disconnected from market realities.

RHB expects a year-end sales surge as tax exemptions for fully imported (CBU) EVs expire in end-Dec. Industry players warn that prices could rise by 15 to 30% once the exemptions end.

EV road tax will also be reinstated next year, although incentives for locally assembled (CKD) EVs remain until 2027.

Market momentum, however, remains strong. Proton’s RM59,800 e.MAS 5 and Perodua’s upcoming EV priced below RM80,000, with over 60% local content, are expected to drive mass adoption.

Analysts caution that without a more coordinated and transparent national charging plan, Malaysia risks widening the gap between rapid EV uptake and slow infrastructure readiness similar to that of Thailand which we report before stood at 1:60 in 2024. 

Source: NST