MIER says Malaysia’s first EV set to debut in Q1 2021

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s first EV is expected to make its debut in the first quarter of 2021, according to The Malaysian Reserve reports. For the domestic and global markets, the production target of this car will be 50,000 units. MIER stated that the prime minister’s office had approved the EV project and it can be expected to make its appearance by mid-October.

According to Tan Sri Kamal Salih, Chairman, Malaysia Institute of Economic Research (MIER) “The project owner has already completed the business plan, and they have managed to convince investors to put money in. At the moment, the project developer is in the process of approving the concept and identifying the land for the smart factory. The electric vehicle will be based on Japanese technologies, and it is targeted that 50,000 vehicles can be produced per year for the global and domestic markets.”

It was reported back in July that a brand named Elenvi Otomotif was proposing to manufacture electric vehicles in Malaysia. The Malaysia EV project had collected RM5 billion in private funding. The funding will be utilised to build a plant at Enstek Industrial Park in Negeri Sembilan that would primarily manufacture EVs. An unnamed local investor and Elenvi will jointly develop it.

The chairman of MIER, Tan Sri Kamal Salih also stated that the target is to launch the car on October 15. However, Malaysia’s first EV might be delayed as they have two other big projects - a national data centre and a waste-to-energy project to reveal. The chairman has also added that the project developer will show two prototypes of EV at the groundbreaking.

Moreover, it was reported that Alam Perkasa Consortium (APC) is planning to create a new carmaker that goes by the name Malaysian International Motor Company with RM 5 million investment. The company will debut its first car at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show.

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