Highlights of Malaysia's Electric Vehicle Policy: Special License Plates, Low Taxes, Tiered Levies

Malaysia will introduce special license plate frames for electric vehicles (EV) to distinguish them from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Minister of Transport Anthony Loke Siew Fook said that the special license plate frames will be issued and installed directly on the vehicles by the car manufacturers, therefore the Ministry of Transport will cooperate with car manufacturers to discuss the materials used for the license plates.

The function of license plates for differentiating electric vehicles from fuel vehicles will be reflected in the rescue. Anthony Loke Siew Fook said, unique license plates are very useful in identification, safety, and rescue in the event of an accident, because it is very difficult to distinguish electric vehicles from ordinary vehicles by appearance alone, especially for the JBPM rescue team.

Malaysia pays great attention to electric vehicles, which is reflected in many policies about electric vehicles. On June 4, a new road tax policy for electric vehicles (EV) was launched, which is expected to come into force on January 1, 2026. In this road tax policy, the tax for electric vehicles is significantly reduced, about 85% lower than the current tax rate for fuel vehicles (ICE). Although the tax for electric vehicles has been reduced, there are currently no plans to reduce the tax for fuel vehicles, because the government said the current rate for fuel vehicles is already low and reasonable.

About the tax standards for different electric vehicles, Anthony Loke Siew Fook said at the Ministry of Transport press conference: "Taxes will increase correspondingly with the increase in motor power, it is usually proportional to the increase in purchase price, size, level, and vehicle weight" . And in detailing the potential principles of electric vehicle road tax, he introduced a block system divided based on the range of motor power, with each block specifying the minimum and maximum rates for motor vehicle licenses (LKM).

For example, Block 1 includes zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) with a motor power range from 1 watt to 100,000 watts, while Block 2 covers zero-emission vehicles with a motor power range from 100,001 watts to 210,000 watts. Within each block, the LKM charges will increase gradually with every 9,999 watts increase in motor power.

To illustrate this process, he said, "for example, the BYD dolphin Premium Standard Range model with a capacity of 130kW only needs to pay RM 120, which is much lower than the current LKM cost of RM 624. As for the Tesla Model Y with a capacity of 220kW, the cost will be RM 305, while the current LKM cost is RM 2,583."