The government says it still plans to proceed with its proposed ‘EV’ number plate series for electric vehicles (EVs), which will be similar to state number plates, with the starting series of ‘EV 1’ to ‘EV 9999’, followed by ‘EVA’, ‘EVB’, and so on.
However, this will only be in the future, according to transport minister Anthony Loke. In the meantime, he said the ministry is proceeding with a part of that equation, which is the introduction of a special license plate for zero-emissions vehicles to differentiate them from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
“Yes, we are coming out with that (EV number plate series) later. What we will do is that we wil first introduce a special plate, not (vehicle registration) numbers, and that will be introduced very soon. I don’t want to announce it today, but it will be announced soon,” he said during his announcement of the new EV road tax structure yesterday.
“The plates will be issued by the respective vehicle companies and installed by them on to the vehicle, so we will work with them regarding the materials to be used,” he said. As to how this move would impact third-party companies such as car accessory shops that are licenced to make number plates, he said the ministry is presently discussing the matter with all relevant parties.
“We are looking at how to integrate that with accessory shops. We are working towards that, so that is why we are taking some time to see how we can roll out (the special plate),” he said, although he did not elaborate further as to what the plate design would look like, and whether it would have a differentiating background colour or font to denote it.
Previously, Loke said that the EV plates would be ‘RFID-linked’, which would help with identification purposes. In the event of an EV accident and/or fire, emergency responders will know that they are dealing with a vehicle that has a high-voltage powertrain and EV battery, which requires a different set of SOPs compared to ICE vehicle fires.
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