Are Malaysian facing EV fatigue?

EV is not new in Malaysia, as early as 2008, Mitsubishi has introduced the MIEV, Nissan brought in their LEAF and Renault also sold a handful of Zoe. However these pioneer EV have range of less than 100 miles and equipment level on par with an economy compact car. It was not enticing to many. Fast forward to 2020, grey imports Tesla were starting to flood in and it became a trend, however it also creates a huge disparity gap between average motorist and the rich enthusiast because a second hand grey import Tesla costs five times more than a regular family sedan. EV which were existing silently are beginning to become an object of ridicule and hate-mongering ensues. Until, come 2023 and the Chinese EV giants flooded in with incredibly cheap EV that is better designed, safe, well equipped, enough to put an equally priced ICE equivalent to shame. Numbers of EV in Malaysia begins to climb rapidly, the hate speech did not stop immediately, but once the local car maker, Proton, introduced their rebadged Geely and sells it under MYR100,000.00 things begin to change. The hatred, which originally arised due to the high price and status symbolism begins to fade. The regular motorist now sees EV as a real option. True enough, EV adoption sky rocketed with the Proton EV in the lead, BYD following closely behind and Tesla still in close third hanging on its status. With more and more EV on the road, the conversation now changes. From critisizing EV charge time, battery life, range to actual conversation like how many charging bays are needed, right to charge at home or high rise, battery leasing, charging cost and kwh rates. This is all looking good. However 2026 marks the end of the EV tax exemption, meaning, other than the locally assembled makes, the rest will be taxed 60% and onwards, making them expensive again. The early adopters are also getting tired of the actual struggles when what used to be very exclusive to them, now they have to fight with thousands of new EV users for that extra bit of juice, parking space and the conversation is no more about the novelty of owning an EV. EV fatigue is kicking in, and with the newly announced petrol subsidy making the price of petrol at just RM1.99 per liter (USD0.50), early adopters are leaving their EV behind and embracing the luxury ICE once more. If Malaysian do not do something about the EV fatigue, Malaysia might end up into the biggest EV junkyard of South-East Asia.