Buying a car in Malaysia increasingly starts on a phone screen rather than a showroom floor, and Proton is leaning into that shift. Its electric arm, Proton e.MAS, has turned the choice between the fully electric Proton e.MAS 7 and its plug-in hybrid version into a live TikTok contest, giving buyers a way to weigh both up before they book a test drive.
Editor
Dinesh Raj chevron_right
Table of Contents
What the e.MAS Showdown is
The Proton e.MAS Showdown is a six-part livestream series running on TikTok from 2 to 21 August 2026. Content creators Sam Lim and Mr POV go head to head, one championing the fully electric e.MAS 7 Premium Plus and the other the e.MAS 7 PHEV Prime. Viewers can send questions during each stream and hear how the two cars behave in everyday driving rather than on a spec sheet.
The format found an audience fast. Proton says the series drew more than 937,000 views in its first week, with much of the interest coming from people trying to separate fact from rumour about living with an electrified car.
Proton e.MAS 7: electric or plug-in hybrid
The showdown sets the two e.MAS 7 variants against each other because they answer different needs. The e.MAS 7 PHEV Prime, which Proton recently began assembling locally, pairs an electric-first drive with a petrol engine for longer journeys, and the company positions it as the most affordable plug-in hybrid on the Malaysian market. Proton quotes fuel economy of 4.3 litres per 100km, pitched at drivers moving across from a conventional car who still want the reassurance of a fuel tank.
The e.MAS 7 Premium Plus takes the opposite approach. It is fully electric with a quoted range of up to 450km on the WLTP cycle, and adds comfort features such as front massage seats and a leg rest for the front passenger, aimed at people who spend long stretches behind the wheel.
Answering the questions buyers actually have
Proton says the livestreams keep returning to the same doubts: how long the battery lasts, whether an EV is safe to drive through floods, and how the cars cope on long trips, along with questions about plug-in hybrid running and maintenance costs. Those are the worries that tend to stall a first electric purchase, and airing them on a live feed is a lower-pressure setting than a dealership visit.
"For many Malaysians, their first interaction with an EV no longer happens in a showroom. It happens on their mobile phone," said Salawati Mohd Yusoff, chief branding officer at PRO-NET, which distributes Proton e.MAS.
The push comes from a brand that has been growing quickly. Proton e.MAS has passed 20,000 sales and moved to the front of Malaysia's EV market, and has been opening more showrooms to widen its reach.
How to watch
The remaining sessions run on Proton e.MAS's official TikTok account, with team streams scheduled for 6, 9, 11, 20 and 21 August, each at 8pm. Viewers who register their booking interest during a stream can also enter for Touch 'n Go eWallet giveaways. For anyone weighing an EV against a plug-in hybrid, it is a chance to see both e.MAS 7 variants driven and questioned side by side before making a decision.
