Special number plates and cheaper road tax for EVs in Malaysia

Electric vehicles or EVs in Malaysia will be getting some added benefits in the coming years in the form of special number plates and cheaper road tax.

The announcement came from Malaysia's Transport Minister himself, Anthony Loke, during the launch of the new GWM 4S centre in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. As reported by NST, the new initiatives will hopefully get more people interested in jumping onto the EV bandwagon.

Starting with road tax, the new road tax price calculation that'll be introduced in 2026 will be based on the kilowatt-based system. The total power rating of the electric motor/motors will be calculated as the final road tax amount within different brackets, just like ICE cars and the engine's CC. In other words, the bigger and more powerful your EVs are, the more that you'll have to pay for the road tax.

Right now, all EVs are enjoying the complimentary road tax that'll end at the end of 2025. No specifics were shared by Loke regarding this new system, but he did assure us that it'll be cheaper and more affordable than the current road tax prices for the current ICE cars.

Apart from this, a new number plate will be introduced just for EVs and you guessed it, it'll start with EV1 to EV9999 followed by the following letters like EVA, EVB, and so on. The reasoning? These specialised plates will be linked using RFID tech for safety reasons.

Why? So that emergency responders can easily detect whether the car is an EV or not if they're involved in any accidents. This way, it'll be easier to handle the situation for the safety of everyone involved. Good move? Sure is.