If your electricity bill exceeds RM220 a month and you plug in your vehicle to charge, “fuel” prices are about to surge.
The Finance Ministry has confirmed that Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) bills exceeding RM220 a month will be subject to the new increased 8% service tax. While the government has reasoned that this price hike will only affect 15% of consumers, that 15% probably includes many electric vehicle owners.
How Much Does It Currently Cost?
A typical EV should cost about between RM15 to RM70 per full charge based on the absolute highest TNB rate. Of course, every EV model has a different battery size, different efficiency, and may even conserve less energy during the charging process. To narrow it down, let’s use the BYD Atto 3 Extended Range, probably the most popular EV in Malaysia right now.
This model has a 60kWh battery which delivers about 400km per full charge. Let’s say the average Malaysian drives 1600km a month – this is give or take four full charge cycles. Each charge is at least RM34, probably a little closer to RM40 in the real world. So, a typical BYD Atto 3 driver is currently spending give or take about RM160 a month just on EV charging at home. Realistically, this household is spending AT LEAST that much on household electricity use too, so they’re definitely over the RM220 threshold when SST applies.
How Much Will It Cost After the 8% SST Hike Comes In?
I’m honestly not sure where the median bill lies. I run an AC an hour a night and get billed about RM40-60. My parents get billed somewhere in the RM100s. Let’s assume RM250 is what the BYD Atto 3 owner’s household gets billed before his car charging expenses. How much more expensive is his typical RM410 bill going to get?
The answer… it’s about to become about RM413 next month if our math is correct.
That’s because SST is only charged for the energy used beyond 600kWh and an RM410 bill is typically drawing about 910kWh of energy, only 310kWh of this is being hit with SST.
So the government is right in saying only about 15% of Malaysian households are going to really feel the SST hike at least in terms of TNB bills. Typical EV owners need not worry.
However, if you feel our math is off or our assumption of what a typical electricity bill looks like for an EV owner, do let us know and we’ll consider updating the story.
