KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must work closely with regional partners to scale up its new energy vehicle (NEV) ecosystem, said Stellantis deputy general manager Adrian Hong.
Hong, who specialises in NEV deployment and mobility strategy across the Asean region, said Malaysia does not have the market size and infrastructure needed to support the widespread development and adoption of electric vehicles.
“We cannot act alone. We don’t have enough scale or volume to drive those 100% subsidies. We need to work with neighbouring countries like Thailand and Indonesia to recognise them as one of the local content,” he told SunBiz in an interview.
Local content refers to components or production originating within a specific region that qualifies products for tax incentives and subsidies.
Drawing lessons from China’s NEV success, the key lies in the government’s clear direction and a well-defined strategic roadmap, Hong said.
“China’s battery giant CATL is now global number one not because they built it on their own, but because the government supported them with heavy subsidies during their early stage. Once they matured, the subsidies were gradually removed. That’s how you grow new energy,” he added.
Hong stressed the need for the government to take the lead in bridging the infrastructure gap.
Right now, he said, Malaysia is seeing broad plans being introduced, but most of the execution is driven by the private sector.
“Take charging stations, for example. While a task force exists, there’s no clear, unified strategy. Public awareness is also lacking. People don’t know, for instance, that you need to use a specific app to access everything,” he added.
While Malaysia has set an ambitious target of 10,000 EV charging stations by year-end, Hong believes the country is unlikely to hit the mark. “In my opinion, we won’t hit that target. I think we’ll achieve 55% to 60% by the end of this year.”
Hong said the issue is not the number of public chargers, but the lack of affordable and accessible home charging.
“Most EV owners in Malaysia charge at home. That’s the only way it makes economic sense.
“If you rely entirely on public charging, it could cost you up to 90 sen per kilowatt-hour. From personal experience, my EV bill was higher than if I had just used RON95,” he pointed out.
Hong said many high-rise buildings lack shared charging infrastructure, which makes EV ownership not practical for a large segment of urban dwellers. “There’s currently no regulation that requires high-rise buildings to install at least two or three public chargers. If we had that, we could reduce ownership costs by avoiding reliance on public charging.”
Stellantis recently established a centralised call centre and is launching a regional parts hub in Malaysia this year.
“Previously, we did have a very challenging supply chain supply. Which was all based on the source from Europe, China. And sometimes it took a long lead time.
“For example, if we didn’t keep a part in the Malaysian warehouse, we had to order it, and it would take time to arrive.
“Now, we use predictive data to place advanced orders with suppliers based on trends. It’s not a magic solution, but it helps reduce vehicle downtime and shortens part lead times.”
Currently, he said, Stellantis has only begun its presence in Kuching, Sarawak, with one dealer and has yet to establish representation in Sabah.
However, Hong said price sensitivity is a major hurdle. “Stellantis models start above RM100,000. Our only EV model retails at RM149,000. The market there is still dominated by local brands like Proton and Perodua, which are more affordable.”
Hong said the company is now focused on Leapmotor EVs as Malaysia pushes for greater EV adoption, with more brand updates expected soon. “So we’re starting with Leapmotor, an accessible EV offering, to reach as many users as possible. But I’m not in a position to talk about Jeep and Citroen.”
Hong said the Gurun plant will focus on local needs first by assembling Leapmotor EVs and launching the STLA Medium platform, but regional exports are also being considered.
“Our first priority is the Malaysian market. But we’re also looking at Asean countries that offer tax incentives based on country of origin. Many still accept CBUs (completely built-ups), so CKD (completely knocked down) is not always necessary,” Hong said.
