New EV road tax rate only after exemption period ends, says Loke

PUTRAJAYA: A new road tax structure for electric vehicles (EV) will only be introduced after the exemption period ends to ensure users are not unnecessarily burdened, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

"In 2022, the Finance Ministry provided a three-year road tax exemption to EV users, which will end in 2025, but many people (EV users) are worried that road tax charges will be very high once this ends.

"We did a study on the road tax (charges), and we have tabled it to the EV Task Force for a more affordable tax.

"We will announce the road tax structure before the end of the year, which will only come into effect after the tax exemption period ends in 2025 unless the Finance Ministry wants to extend it," he said during a press conference here today.

Loke said the government wants to ensure that the new EV road tax charges will be competitive and not burdensome to encourage more people to switch to EVs.

"There are fewer than 10,000 EVs on the road nationwide. It's not easy to shift from conventional (vehicles) to EVs.

"We want to encourage more people to use EVs, but we need a proper ecosystem to make this happen, such as having more charging stations. All this requires time and continuous efforts," he said.

In Budget 2022, the government introduced a road tax exemption for battery- and fuel cell (hydrogen)-powered EVs, which is in force from Jan 1, 2022, to Dec 31, 2025.