Malaysia is registering far more electric cars than it did a year ago. In the first six months of 2026, Malaysians registered 31,738 battery-electric vehicles, according to Road Transport Department (JPJ) figures, up 85 percent on the same period a year earlier. Separately, on 1 September, the subsidised RON95 quota under BUDI95 was raised back to 300 litres a month, from 200. The price did not change: it stays at RM1.99 a litre for an estimated 16 million eligible users, who can now buy more of it at that rate.
Sales figures from the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) tell a similar story from a different angle. Among its members, 26,192 pure electric passenger vehicles were sold in the first half, a 106 percent jump on last year, narrowly ahead of the 25,590 hybrids sold. The two datasets are not interchangeable: JPJ logs every battery-electric registration, while MAA counts passenger-vehicle sales reported by its members and excludes non-members such as Tesla, which helps explain why its EV figure is lower than JPJ's. Battery and hybrid models together came to 51,782 units, or 13.4 percent of the total vehicle market. It has raised its full-year forecast to 120,000 electrified vehicles, split roughly evenly between battery and hybrid power, out of a total market it now expects to reach 800,000 units.
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The numbers behind Malaysia's EV year
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| BEV registrations, Jan to Jun 2026 | 31,738 (up 85% year on year) | JPJ |
| Pure EV sales, MAA members, Jan to Jun 2026 | 26,192 (up 106% year on year) | MAA |
| Hybrid sales, MAA members, Jan to Jun 2026 | 25,590 | MAA |
| Electrified share of the total vehicle market | 13.4% (51,782 units) | MAA |
| Full-year electrified forecast, 2026 | 120,000 vehicles | MAA |
| Subsidised RON95 quota from 1 Sep 2026 | raised to 300 litres a month (from 200), price held at RM1.99 | Finance Ministry (BUDI95) |
| EV road tax (power-based) from 1 Jan 2026 | about 85% below the previous EV rates | Government |
Where the petrol subsidy fits in
For anyone weighing an EV, the petrol subsidy is part of the sum. Cheap, subsidised petrol is one of the running-cost reasons a buyer might stick with a combustion car, and a 300-litre monthly allowance at RM1.99 keeps more of that cushion in place. Because BUDI95 subsidises fuel at the pump rather than paying a cash rebate, a driver who moves to an EV and stops buying RON95 draws nothing from it. How much any of this weighs on a decision depends on how far a household drives and what it pays to charge.
What still favours going electric
Road tax is the clearest pull toward battery power. It moved to a power-based structure, measured in kilowatts, on 1 January 2026, which the government says is on average about 85 percent lower than the previous EV road-tax rates. The other factor is running cost, which for an EV turns far more on access to home charging and on electricity tariffs than on the petrol price at all, and which rises when more of the charging is done at pricier public stations.
The wider market is turning over quickly too. Our own tracking of Malaysia's new-car registrations follows the shifts right down to the most-registered colours. At the top of the range, the Volvo EX90 sits far above the price of most models on the road.
MAA is still forecasting 120,000 electrified vehicles for the full year. Reaching that from 51,782 in the first half would need the second half to run about a third higher.
Images courtesy of Ratio EV Charging and Bernd Dittrich on Unsplash.
