Let me say this up front: I want Perodua to succeed with their first EV. If they get it right — price it right — a Perodua EV could be the EV for all Malaysians. Affordable, cheap to run, and cheap to maintain.
That’s what the Perodua brand means to Malaysians, and naturally, we’re expecting a cheap and good EV. Perodua has said it will have its first EV ready by the end of this year, but based on what they’ve shown — and more worryingly, what they haven’t — I’m not convinced they’ve got the recipe sorted. Not yet.
It’s May. Where’s the Car?
At the Malaysia Autoshow 2025, Perodua unveiled the “final episode” of their EV journey. That sounds dramatic… until you see what they rolled out: a half-cut prototype and a virtual driving simulator. Which is a bit like showing off half a nasi lemak and calling it a buffet.
Perodua says they’re in the final stages of homologation, with pre-production starting in September or October, and mass production targeted at 500 units per month initially, scaling up to over 2,000. On paper, that sounds promising.
But then you look closer — and the doubts start creeping in.
Platform? What Platform?
One of the most revealing answers in the media session came when Perodua CEO Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad confirmed this EV is being developed entirely by Perodua, with no involvement from Daihatsu. They claim the IP for the platform is under Perodua, and that this is a “learning process” for their R&D team.
That’s… brave.
Because if true, it means Perodua is building a bespoke EV platform from scratch — something even legacy giants struggle with. Daihatsu doesn’t even have an EV platform, and EV from brands like Mazda and Nissan are fighting to stay competitive against the Chinese. And yet, there’s no clarity on whether Perodua’s bespoke platform will be skateboard-based, hybrid-adapted, or built off an ICE chassis.
A platform is the foundation of any EV. If you don’t know where your foundation is coming from, you’re not building — you’re guessing.
Battery Leasing: Practical or Painful?
Now, about this Battery-as-a-Service scheme. Perodua says buyers will pay a monthly rental fee — around RM200, give or take — and in return, they’ll never have to worry about battery degradation, failures, or the cost of a replacement. The battery will be covered for up to 8 years, and supplied by CATL.
Sounds great on paper. But let’s be honest: Malaysians don’t exactly love monthly commitments. Just look at telco plans. Most of Perodua’s core customers still prefer prepaid — not because they love topping up, but because they want flexibility and zero long-term contracts. If RM60 postpaid is hard to justify, RM200 for a leased battery is going to be a tough sell.
That’s the real challenge. We don’t want another bill. Paying for something you don’t even own just feels off. I want to own my car. I want to own the battery that comes with the car. And I’m sure I’m not alone in this — we want to sell the whole thing later without needing to explain some convoluted battery contract.
And here’s what few people are talking about: battery tech is evolving fast, and prices are dropping even faster. In 2010, battery packs cost over US$1,000 per kWh. By 2023, that figure dropped to around US$139. By 2026, it’s expected to fall below US$100. That means the price of replacing a battery in five years could be dramatically lower than it is today.
So why lock yourself into a leasing plan for 8 to 10 years — tied to battery tech that may be obsolete by year three? It’s like buying a smartphone and signing a ten-year contract. The numbers don’t favour the customer — they favour the company that owns the battery.
And while leasing may appeal to some as “peace of mind,” it risks becoming an unnecessary complexity — especially when EV adoption in Malaysia is already rising without it. Proton’s e.MAS 7 and other value EVs are being snapped up under conventional ownership. So who exactly is this battery leasing for?
Contrary to popular perception, EV batteries are repairable. Many battery packs consist of modular sections, and often only one or two modules fail — not the whole pack. Yet most people assume a minor fault means total replacement. If Perodua retains battery ownership through leasing, they control the diagnosis, cost, and decision-making. That’s not peace of mind — that’s lack of choice.
Perodua insists it’s about ecosystem control, resale value protection, and long-term sustainability. Maybe. But to the average buyer, it might just feel like paying more for less control.
And here’s something important to understand: resale value is mostly driven by the market, not the manufacturer. It’s shaped by reliability, depreciation trends, and demand. Some manufacturers may track resale performance, but it’s rarely a core KPI in vehicle design.
Most carmakers focus on making the sale — not protecting resale value five years later. Resale value is something that happens, not something that’s engineered. When a manufacturer says battery leasing supports resale, what they’re really doing is controlling the resale — not improving it.
Swapping the Battery in 30 Minutes? Really?
According to Perodua CEO Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad, the battery can be changed at a service centre in “30 minutes.” That’s his claim, made during the Malaysia Autoshow 2025 media briefing.
But we’ve seen the prototype. It features a cell-to-body (CTB) battery design — the kind integrated into the chassis for structural strength. That’s not a plug-and-play pack. That’s a core component. Swapping it out isn’t a pit stop — it’s major surgery.
So which is it? Is this “final prototype” actually what’s going into production? Or is it a dressed-up concept?
Because if the production model doesn’t use CTB, then this prototype is just a show car — not a development milestone.
EV Ecosystem or PR Soundbite?
Perodua keeps emphasising their commitment to localising EV components. They claim 42 local vendors are already involved, with another 20 coming online in the next six months to build motors, inverters, and ADAS systems. That’s encouraging.
But when pressed for specifics, things get fuzzy — “traditional parts” now, EV-specific bits later, and localisation ramping up “in stages.” They haven’t locked down clear delivery KPIs under the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030), which sets out Malaysia’s ambition to become a regional EV hub through local manufacturing, automation, green growth, and resilient supply chains.
If Perodua is serious about proving itself as an EV leader, its localisation plan should clearly align with national policy — not just vague promises. Trust isn’t built with slideshows. It’s built with execution.
Is This Strategy… Strategic?
Here’s what baffles me the most: if this EV is launching in six months, the story should already be tight. You should be building anticipation. Educating dealers. Giving Malaysians the confidence that this is the real thing.
Instead, we’ve had thorium energy side projects, speculative “guaranteed buyback” plans, and a whole lot of “we’re still studying this.”
And then there’s the comparison no one wants to make — but we have to. Proton plans to launch the e.MAS 5 around the same time as Perodua’s EV. But the difference in readiness is stark. Proton’s donor car, the Geely Geome Xingyuan, is already a production EV in China. It was China’s best-selling BEV in January 2025, even outselling the BYD Dolphin. By the end of February, Geely had already rolled out the 100,000th unit. It has real specs, a real platform, and real-world mileage.
Perodua, on the other hand, has shown us half a car, a leasing scheme with more questions than answers, and a whole lot of vague timelines.
From a product strategy perspective, this isn’t a launch campaign — it’s a hope-for-the-best campaign.
To be fair, Perodua is taking a different route. They claim to be building a bespoke EV platform, developed entirely in-house, with the IP under Perodua — and no technical support from Daihatsu or Toyota. That’s bold. In an industry where most brands are standing on the shoulders of proven EV architecture, Perodua is trying to build its own Myvi… but electric.
And that’s a big shift. Let’s not forget — the original Myvi wasn’t homegrown. It was based on the Toyota Passo. A rebadge. A smart one. It worked because it was grounded in proven tech and localised for Malaysian needs.
This EV is the opposite. No Daihatsu. No Toyota. No safety net. It’s all Perodua. And while that’s gutsy, it also means the risk is entirely theirs.
Perodua didn’t take any chances with the Myvi — and it became Malaysia’s favourite car. But now they’re taking every chance with their first EV?
The Way I See It… Hope Isn’t a Roadmap
Perodua says they’ll launch their first EV by the end of 2025. And they might.
But just because a car is launched doesn’t mean it’s ready. From what we’ve seen, major details are still in flux — pricing, battery contracts, servicing plans, even production volume.
That’s not to say they won’t pull it off. But right now, this doesn’t look like a company confidently entering the EV space. It looks like a company still figuring out the rules of the game.
And I hope I’m wrong.
Because if Perodua nails this — if they build a sub-RM80k EV that’s practical, serviceable, and doesn’t age like milk — they might just kick off the next great chapter of Malaysian motoring.
But they’ll need more than half a car and half a plan to do it.
