Project director for EV at TNB Junaizee Noor said that by then, the country is expected to have at least 30,000 EVs on the road.

“By 2030, when the number of EVs is likely to top 500,000, we will have 18,000 charging points across the country,” he told delegates at the Invest Malaysia Series 2 event, titled “The Road to EV” here today.

The event was organised and hosted by Bursa Malaysia Bhd.

“It is important that the number of chargers grows in unison with the increase in the number of EVs, but for now I would appreciate it if every petrol kiosk has an EV charging point,” he added.

Junaizee said it is part of TNB’s plan to provide the infrastructure that supports the EV market by providing the electricity grid, charging points and software applications that operate these chargers.

He noted that the government has also helped by providing tax breaks to EV importers, while others such as green incentive tax allowances, have been given to infrastructure providers such as charging point operators.

He said manufacturers have also been granted tax breaks of up to 10 years.

Nonetheless, the road to meeting the target is long given that the infrastructure to support Malaysia’s pivot to the future in EV is still in its infancy.

Macquarie Group CEO Shemara Wikramanayake said that a record 16.5 million EVs were sold worldwide last year.

“This is a threefold increase in just three years, with China, Europe and the US leading the way,” she told the conference.

Closer to home, EV sales in Southeast Asia grew over 30% in 2021 and is set to be higher in 2022, she said.

In 2021, Malaysia was the second largest passenger vehicle market in Southeast Asia, behind Indonesia.

It also accounted for the second largest proportion of EV sales. However, that made up less than 1% of total vehicle sales.

In its 2022 budget, the Malaysian government introduced incentives that, among others, will make EVs more affordable and accessible to encourage the purchase of such vehicles.