INTERACTIVE: EV boom puts pressure on charging bay rollout

By SHYAFIQ DZULKIFLI

PETALING JAYA: The growth of electric vehicles (EVs) in Malaysia is outpacing charging infrastructure development, with the ratio now standing at 13 EVs for every charger.

The vehicle-to-charger ratio has gone up by 18% from 11 EVs per charger just a year ago.

According to data from the Malaysia Electric Vehicle Charging Network (MEVnet) dashboard, there are now 4,161 public EV charging bays across 1,374 locations nationwide as of June 30. 

This is a 61% increase from The Star’s previous analysis in July 2024 when 2,585 bays were installed.

Despite the jump, EV registrations are rising faster.

Cumulative EV registrations reached 52,418 units between January 2015 and June 2025, with a sharp increase recorded in the first half of this year alone.

A total of 17,143 electrical vehicles registered from January to June, marking a 60.8% year-on-year surge from 10,663 units in the same period last year.

May 2025 recorded the highest-ever monthly registration, with 4,152 EVs added to the national fleet.

Malaysia has set a national target of installing 10,000 public charging bays at 4,025 stations by 2025, a goal first laid out under the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (2021–2030). 

In terms of target achievement, Kuala Lumpur has outperformed expectations.

The capital exceeded its 900-unit target with 1,192 charging bays installed and this puts Kuala Lumpur at 132.44% of its goal.

Penang ranks second having installed 393 bays or 65.5% of its 600-bay goal and Johor at third place (42.36% of its 1,100-bay target).

Notably, Labuan still lacks any public EV charging bays, while Perlis recorded no new installations over the past one year.

However, current infrastructure still falls short of this benchmark, even as new bays installed.

“While the installation of over 4,000 EV charging bays is commendable, it is still not fully adequate to meet the growing and future demand,” said PLANMalaysia director-general Datuk Dr Alias Rameli.

He noted that many EV owners, especially those in landed properties, rely on private home chargers, which are not counted under the government’s public infrastructure targets.

Dr Alias said there has been a noticeable increase in planning submissions for new EV charging bays, particularly from private firms and local authorities in high-growth corridors like the Klang Valley, Johor Bahru, and Penang.

The MEVnet platform enables spatial mapping of existing and planned infrastructure, allowing more efficient rollout and reducing land-use conflicts.

However, challenges persist. 

Dr Alias highlighted that identifying suitable sites for chargers in dense urban areas remains a key constraint. 

“In mature urban zones, limited space, competing land uses, and retrofitting existing buildings present significant hurdles,” he said.

He also pointed to regulatory misalignment between planning authorities, utility providers, and safety regulators which differences in interpretation of technical requirements often result in delays.

To address this, PLANMalaysia has introduced the Garis Panduan Perancangan (GPP) EVCB, a unified planning guideline for EV charging bays and has conducted capacity-building initiatives with local planning authorities to streamline approval processes.

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