Will the Myvi eMO-1 persuade more Malaysians to switch to electric cars
It is not easy to convince a combustion engine (ICE) driver/owner to make the switch to sustainable, clean and quiet electric mobility. Especially when you see issues like this getting more common (a Petrol Powered car parked at an electric car charging bay).
One thing is clear: Drivers who have been happily driving a petrol or diesel-powered vehicle since the day of passing their driving test need more than just articles from the media, videos showing the destruction of the earth and the lower running costs of electric vehicles to persuade them to sell their combustion powered vehicles for a clean driving vehicle, an electric car.
To start, our Malaysia currency is still too low making the purchasing power for the middle and lower middle class Malaysian to own an electric car difficult.
This is why many are waiting for the Perodua electric car to arrive which is the Myvi eMO-1 (priced way below RM99k), however what about battery charging facilities? Will there be EV charging points at PKNS flats, low cost housing areas and will there be enough points?
Also! Will there be enough charging points along all highways when traffic volumes increase on the weekends and long holidays?
Will the cost of charging ‘per minute’ go up when demand rises by 200-500%?
Will Gentari and TNB Electron actually deliver their stated number of EV charging points by 2025?
Then there is a high subsidy on petrol and diesel. This will be slowly taken away this June 2024 and it is a bold move by the current ruling government as previous governments would have NEVER made this bold move to keep voters coming back to them without thinking the long term effects.
Right now we have a government that is thinking long term and NOT just about voter happiness.
Malaysia could try and use the formula that has worked very well in Norway for years. The time is right now and not tomorrow to start this.
Norway has been a forerunner in the introduction of electric cars for several years, which is also reflected in its leading position in renewable energy feeding its energy grid, making it a real electric car halo market. Almost every third vehicle sold in Norway last year was electric.
Thanks to this tax advantage, Norway is one of the few markets in the world where the price of an electric car is at the same level as that of a similarly sized vehicle with a combustion engine.
