By Dato’ Ts. Madani Sahari
The recent tabling of the Budget 2022, which included full exemption of import duties, excise duties and sales tax for electric vehicles is an important milestone in the local development of technologies and business activities related to electric vehicles.
Incentives rolled out directly to consumers are expected to catalyze consumer demand and market excitement in the new electric vehicle segment in the country.
An industry shift towards electric vehicles goes beyond the introduction of electric car models, as it requires a complete shift in the industry and administrative operations – which include power generation, charging infrastructure, vehicle service networks, spare parts availability, human capital development, etc.
While the National Automotive Policy 2020 (NAP 2020), under the custodianship of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry has addressed these issues through its strategic framework, the important piece of the puzzle is the consumer demand for the electric lifestyle – which is manifested through the incentives provided under Budget 2022.
As a technical agency for the development of the automotive and overall mobility sector, MARii is stepping up efforts to meet this excitement through the various initiatives it has started even before the NAP 2020 was announced.
Firstly, numerous Malaysian standards and regulations have been established for EVs, including safety requirements for electric powertrains of road vehicles, electric motorcycles, and Electric mopeds. They also include standards for new components in Electric Vehicles such as connectors and inlets, charging systems, sockets, testing standards for lithium-ion batteries, as well as standards to encourage battery swapping, wireless charging, and recycling and disposal of batteries.
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Secondly, through MARii, the government has formulated numerous strategies to develop homegrown technologies in the EV sector, including the manufacturing and application of local batteries together with the development of Battery Management System (BMS), and Thermal Management System (TMS), feasibility studies on Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology, development of critical components in EV manufacturing, development of EV Interoperability Centre, and applying well-to-wheel concepts in the calculation of emission of EVs
To supplement the development of local talents in EVs, MARii has established several centres of excellence such as Marii’s Design Centre and Academy of Technology (both located in Rawang) to serve as focal points in enhancing upstream capabilities within the Malaysian ecosystem. These facilities, coupled with numerous MARii human capital development programmes are designed to utilise these establishments equipped with Industry 4.0 capabilities including supercomputing, simulation, Augmented Reality (AR), and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
MARii together with the government and the industry has also begun the establishment of the Electric Vehicle Interoperability Centre (EVIC) – a shared test centre for the development of EVs and EV-related products and systems. Details of the EVIC will be released in future announcements by MARii or MITI.
Finally, MARii has identified and are working with numerous car manufacturers, motorcycle assemblers, commercial vehicle builders, charging station providers, and local component manufacturers on the various aspects of developing a complete ecosystem for electric vehicles in Malaysia.
These developments are expected to place the domestic EV sector in a stronger position for the years ahead, in line with the government’s drive to shift the automotive sector towards connected mobility.
Dato’ Ts. Madani Sahari is the Chief Executive Officer at Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii)
