Thinking of a new car? Go electric

 

With the New Year just around the corner, are you thinking of replacing the old family car? How about an electric car rather than the usual petrol-engine vehicle, if the price is within budget and you have your own covered car park for overnight charging?

The first affordable electric car from RM150,000 will be rolled out for sale from Jan 1. This is the Hyundai Kona EV which will also be available with a longer driving range at probably an additional RM30,000. The prices are based on recommended retail prices in Australia which is an almost tax-free automotive market.

Thanks to the 2022 budget, Malaysia has distinguished itself as the first Southeast Asian nation to waive almost all taxes on EV’s for the next four years, with the probability of more sweeteners to come.

On this note, we congratulate Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors for its commitment to climate change and being in the fortuitous position of being the first to offer EVs for car buyers willing to put their money on decarbonising their life.

Noting that it takes a franchisee almost a year to plan, purchase and import CBU models and about three years to organise local assembly, which are the next EV models to be offered for sale?

You would think that affordable EVs to next enter Malaysia would most likely come from marques that are already in the country. This includes Hyundai’s compatriot sister company, Kia, Japan’s Nissan Leaf, and European brands such as Peugeot, Renault and Volkswagen.

But the fact is that no one really expected the new government to roll out such an accommodative policy for EVs and all the Japanese franchisees were caught out. As at the time of writing this, there are a few Nissan Leaf EVs with Edaran Tan Chong but no real plans yet to capitalise on the government’s EV concessions. And this can equally be said of Honda.

As for the world’s top two carmakers, Toyota Japan has been caught out by the double-digit growth in battery electric vehicle sales worldwide.

The Malaysian-owned Duesenberg Technology Group is said to be following Tesla’s business model of launching its first car as a limited edition roadster before embarking on a mass production affordable car three years down the road.

VW’s EV range called the ID is the sexiest with the ID3 being a runaway world success. Even if VW AG recognises the importance of Southeast Asia including the Asean economic bloc, the German company’s presence in Malaysia via a trading operation, Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia, is a junior entity compared to 16 years ago when the VW group itself was poised to buy a controlling stake in Proton.

For VPCM to offer VW’s range of EVs, it will have to jump the long global queue for the ID.

What about EVs from China? There are already a few commercial vehicle franchisees in Malaysia but we have to recognise that while there are many good EV battery companies, only a few are good EV carmakers.

Great Wall Motors began selling electric vehicles in Thailand last week.

Its Ora Good Cat subcompact starts at RM123,000, on par with the lowest cost electric sold in Thailand by MG Motor, the British brand owned by Shanghai-based SAIC Motor. The Good Cat also is 30% less expensive than the Nissan Leaf.

MG Roewe’s ZS EV is Australia’s best selling EV and the marque was represented by Tony Khor but sales were derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic and a new distributor might be on the way. Additionally, Khor is not overly confident of Malaysia’s new EV policy.

“China not only waives taxes on EVs, it also subsidises the price of the car for buyers. I’m waiting for long-term clarity regarding local assembly of EVs and the provision of discounted off-peak electricity rates,” he told FMT.

“Additionally, China has a non-tariff policy to support EVs including the compulsory provision of EV charging stations in public areas and along highways.

“It demands that electric companies provide high-powered electricity for DC-DC fast charging.

“With Malaysia subsidising petrol prices, there’s no economic incentive for car owners to change to EVs. Also, 70% of Malaysian motorists are in small cars which are already frugal in consumption of petrol.

“Of course we welcome the tax exemptions but Malaysia must do more on the non-tax incentives.”

The big question mark hangs around Proton. Its partner, the Zhejiang-Geely auto group, launched its Zeekr EV globally in March this year but has not gone much beyond that.

There’s more going for its associated brands, Polestar (JV with Volvo and prices start from RM200,000) and Lynk & Co (time-based cloud-stored subscription of EVs by membership).

However, we can expect a big wave of EV cars to be shipped in by Open AP import permit holders.

They have a sweetheart deal brokered by the then deputy international trade and industry minister Ong Kian Ming, who waived the 6% quota on Pekema members effective 2019 on certain conditions. This includes the installation of fast charging DC-DC stations at their car showrooms. Pekema is the association of Open AP car import permit holders.

So you can be sure that there will be a number of second-hand EVs, from Porsche Taycans to Tesla to Honda e (about RM150,000 new price in the UK, available in Australia from parallel importers quoting a price of RM250,000).

And as for Edaran Tan Chong, it is still in the planning stage of bringing in Nissan Leaf to benefit from the new tax-free EV era.

Go to your nearest Pekema showroom to check what’s in store or you can quickly do an online booking of the Kona EV and avail yourself to a new EV with a manufacturer’s warranty. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.