SERI KEMBANGAN, May 14 – Electric vehicle (EV) truck adoption in Malaysia remains low as the government looks at incentives to encourage operators to make the switch, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said today.
He said only a couple of EV trucks were currently on Malaysian roads, and by and large, adoption had yet to take off.
“There are a couple of units of EV trucks in Malaysia, but by and large we are not taking off anything yet in terms of EV trucks,” he said at the Malaysia Commercial Vehicle Expo (MCVE) 2026.
Loke said the EV Task Force would meet next week, where the Ministry of Transport (MOT) would present its views on incentivising businesses to adopt EV trucks. He said incentives including tax exemptions were among the measures to be discussed.
“MOT will present our views to convince our colleagues in other ministries that we should look at how do we incentivise businesses to adopt EV trucks,” he said.
Cost remained a big hurdle, with EV trucks priced two to three times higher than conventional diesel trucks.
“If you want me to buy EV trucks, it is three times more expensive than the typical diesel trucks. So that is one big hurdle to go into EV,” the minister explained.
On infrastructure, Loke said charging facilities remained a challenge, particularly for cross-state operations.
“A typical EV range is only about 300 to 400 kilometres. In between, you need charging points, you need charging facilities to recharge,” he said, noting that cross-state routes spanned 800 to 900 kilometres.
Loke said Cabinet had the day before discussed how to grow the EV charging ecosystem, including whether charging stations could be incorporated at petrol stations.
“Can it be part and parcel of the petrol station right now? Can this be a mainstream in the future, where all petrol stations will be equipped with charging stations as well? This is something which we have to look into,” he said.
Loke said the government was spending RM2.5 billion a month on diesel subsidies alone.
“The government is spending 2.5 billion a month just on subsidy diesel. This is something very huge. Financially it is very hard for the government to sustain this.
“Long term this is something which I think is necessary. Not just that we have to achieve our net zero target by 2050, but in terms of fuel efficiency, in terms of the cost to the government, it is better for the government to incentivise the operators to operate EV trucks,” he added.
Loke said the government was not taking a hard approach toward EV adoption.
“We are not taking a hard approach to get the industry to adopt EV. Rather, we are taking a more carrot approach to encourage them, to incentivise them to look at it.
“I know it is not going to be easy, I know it will take a very long time. I hope that the manufacturers, the companies who are into this industry can look into this as well,” he said.