While just 274 new electric vehicles were sold in Malaysia in 2021, a big leap was anticipated for EV sales in the year of 2022 that followed, and so it has proven. Some 2,631 EVs were sold in Malaysia last year, according to Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) president Datuk Aishah Ahmad at the association’s annual review press conference today.
This represents an 860% gain over the three-figure tally from 2021, however MAA’s EV sales figure accounts for electric vehicles that were bought new through official distribution channels. In December, road transport department (JPJ) director-general Datuk Zailani Hj Hashim said that there are more than 10,000 fully electric vehicles registered in the department’s database.
In terms of predicting electric vehicle sales in 2023, the association has yet to forecast the number of EVs that will be sold next year, though the sales volume for this year “will definitely be much higher than in 2022” because there are numerous EV models that will be introduced, and the ongoing tax incentives for EVs will continue to drive sales, said the MAA president.
Certain entrants to the Malaysian market have hit the ground running for 2023, such as the BYD Atto 3 that has had 100 units delivered to customers in Malaysia earlier this week, and a further 500 units are on their way here. Last month, the first batch of the Ora Good Cat arrived in Malaysia for customer deliveries.
At the more luxurious end of the EV scale, the BMW i7 EV has been sighted registered on Malaysian roads, with expressions of interest for the flagship sedan opened from last April, and Audi Malaysia has also opened ROIs for its range of e-tron EVs.
Meanwhile, recently launched in the premium EV segment were the Mercedes-Benz EQE350+, as well as the Volvo C40 Recharge Pure Electric; both arrived in the second week of December 2022.