EEVs penetration to be ramped up to 50 per cent before year end

SERDANG: The penetration of energy-efficient vehicles ( EEVs) in Malaysia is expected to be ramped up to as much as 50 per cent of total industry volume ( TIV) by year- end after hitting 42.8 per cent last year.

Ministry of International Trade and Industry ( MITI) Deputy Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said as the motor vehicle industry continued to advance towards autonomous and semiautonomous capability vehicles, there were opportunities to further improve Malaysia’s own public transport landscape with wider usage of EEVs.

“The National Automot ive Pol icy ( NAP) places emphasis on green initiatives, with the ultimate object ive of establ ishing Malaysia as a regional EEV hub by 2020.

“Our EEV policy is tailored towards meeting future demand in vehicle technology, including the need to produce skilled human resources, investments in technology and sustainable mobil ity,” he said af ter launching the Kuala Lumpur Internat ional Automot ive Symposium and a workshop on ‘ Urban Transportat ion and E- Mobility in Malaysia: Smart Mobility towards EEVs” yesterday.

Malaysia’s EEV penetration, which refers to the percentage of EEVs (new cars) registered on the road for a given year, hit 42.8 per cent of the TIV which stood at 580,124 units in 2016.

Ahmad Maslan said in Malaysia’s context , EEVs were not limited to electric alone but any vehicle that meets a set standard of fuel consumpt ion and carbon emission level.

Moving forward, he said the government recognised the importance of digitalisation and connectivity as the country moved towards embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Automation is increasingly applied across various sectors including the automotive sector and the future of this industry would evolve towards digitalisation, with Internet- ofThings and big data management becoming an increasingly ubiquitous feature to remain competitive, he said.

The three- day workshop was organised by MITI in collaboration with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise and Temasek Foundation International focused on the automotive sector. — Bernama

The motor vehicle industry continued to advance towards autonomous and semi-autonomous capability vehicles, there were opportunities to further improve Malaysia’s own public transport landscape with wider usage of EEVs.