PETALING JAYA: A surge in electric vehicle (EV) sales is outpacing the growth in the number of charging stations being built.
Malaysia’s vehicle-to-charger ratio currently stands at 13 EVs per charger nationwide, an increase of 18% compared to 11 a year ago.
As of June 30, figures from the Malaysia Electric Vehicle Charging Network (MEVnet) dashboard show that there were 4,161 public EV charging bays across 1,374 locations nationwide.
This is a 61% increase from The Star’s previous analysis in July 2024 when 2,585 bays were installed.
Despite the increasing number of charging stations being built, EV registrations have been rising at an even faster pace.
There are currently 52,418 EVs on the roads as of June 30 this year, with a sharp increase recorded since January.
The first six months of this year saw 17,143 electrical vehicles registered, a 60.8% year-on-year jump from 10,663 units in the same period last year.
May 2025 saw the highest-ever monthly registration with 4,152 EVs.
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).
While Malaysia is still far from meeting the objective, Kuala Lumpur has already hit its target with 1,192 charging bays installed, which is 132.44% of its 900-unit target.
Penang ranks second with 393 bays in place, which is 65.5% of its 600-bay goal.
Johor is third with 466 bays, which is 42.36% of its 1,100-bay target.
“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.
