THIS story opens not with a car, but with a number: RM80,000.

This seems to be some sort of psychological limit for the price of Perodua's first electric vehicle and last week Proton decided to poke at this bear and announced that its next BEV offering would range between RM60,000 and RM80,000 in price.

That was the second EV bomb to detonate in as many weeks with BYD earlier deciding to start its Seal 6 at a jaw-dropping RM100,000, surely sending traditional carmakers into a tight huddle as they figure out the effect of all this.

Popular B-segment sedan models such as the Honda City, Toyota Vios and Proton S70 is suddenly coming under direct attack by a BEV that is actually cheaper than their flagship variants.

To be fair, the EV market in Malaysia is only expected to hit the inflection point sometime in 2026 as it breaches the 10 per cent mark of total vehicles sold in the country, that is if everything goes to plan.

Even BYD knows that its super attractive prices are not going to turn the industry on a dime but it will make millions think, and that is strategically very important during this period of transition.


As it stands 2025 will likely see BEVs claiming between seven and eight per cent of the market, hardly a reason for traditional carmakers to break a sweat.

Perodua is so dominant that it sells more thank half of all cars in Malaysia and their Serendah factory is on overtime every day just chasing backlogs.

But inflection points are dangerous and everyone is keeping at least one eye on the EV sales curve and another on the government's moves.

The recent reorganisation of the RON95 petrol subsidy also sent shivers down the automotive industry's spine as the gap between subsidised and unsubsidised RON95 opens up to 61 sen per litre, which should be enough to make people reconsider their car choices.

While the new fuel subsidy regime is not likely to cause a mad rush towards electric vehicles, it would certainly push fence sitters towards a transport solution that is less dependent on political considerations.

Anticipation for Proton and Perodua's first BEV was first sown some two years ago when the government announced that they expected the two local carmakers to come up with affordable electric offerings by 2025.

Proton threw the gauntlet with the e.Mas 7 but it was not the affordable EV that the government wanted to see, it was the first attempt by Proton to manage their own EV product after distributing the smart brand for Geely.

As sales of the e.Mas 7 clocked around 800 units per month, it gave Proton a better understanding of the various factors it needs to look into when offering electric vehicles, from range anxiety, service intervals and costs and just general public understanding of the technology.

When the company teased the e.Mas 5 it became clear that it is now gunning for at least double the volume of the electric SUV and the main question mark became the price.

Perodua first indicated that its first BEV offering, allegedly to be called the Q-VE will hit the markets below RM80,000 and came with a unique Battery As A Service proposition.

Industry watchers speculated that this was necessary to make the purchase price attractive and Perodua wanted to reduce buyer concern about battery life by taking ownership of the battery, leaving motorists with a simple monthly payment that gave them access to new battery should anything happen to the power source.

Just like the very idea of a battery electric vehicles, BAAS was not very well received by a market that has scant understanding of what an EV is and what it means to operate one.

Therefore Proton's announcement that it intends to play in the RM60,000 price range is certainly a major wake up call for everyone.

Geely's proficiency in tackling the automotive market in China with electric vehicles is well accepted, the original version of the e.Mas 7, called Galaxy 5 became the top seller when it was introduced and the Xinyang, which will become the e.Mas 5 is the current best selling electric vehicle in the world's largest BEV market.

When we look at the prices of these two models in their domestic market, it is clear that Proton has margin to play and the price announcement is surprising only insofar that we think it might have been able to ask for a slightly higher price for the time being.

Especially when we consider that the vehicle is rear-wheel drive and comes with expensive multi-link rear suspension. Those alone are enough to promise fun driving experience.

The shock value of the announcement must at least be designed to hook in as many bookings as possible before the car is launched mid-November.

Proton is asking a mere RM99 to place a booking and for that each person will get a touch n go card with RM100 pre-loaded. Given that an empty car is RM10, this means that Proton is offering everyone RM11 to place booking.

Negative booking fee notwithstanding, the vehicle itself offers some genuine good features as a first electric vehicle, such as good interior space, 70-litre front trunk, numerous storage cubbies within the cabin, a full suite of advanced driver assistance system and fairly decent range of between 250 and 350 kilometres.

Many first time car buyers, especially graduates entering the workforce aspire to buy the Perodua Myvi and the top spec variant can be had for a shade under RM60,000 so suddenly they have the opportunity to consider an electric vehicle that they can genuinely afford to buy.

The more sophisticated buyers may do some number crunching on energy costs and maintenance expenditure and find that the jump to electric makes more sense, especially if they will use the car mainly for commuting and occasional planned outstation jaunts.

Perodua now has to consider its pricing position carefully, with or without battery as a service.

Given that Proton has the second largest automaker in China as its partner and Perodua is left to its own devices when it comes to electric vehicles, the situation is quite challenging for the Serendah giant.

Perodua would have spent a much larger amount developing its own electric vehicle while Proton would have relied heavily on Geely's investment and paid unit amortisation costs for each unit that it wants to rebadge, exposing it to a much smaller financial risk.

This may not give Perodua too much room to drop prices but if there is anything that we know about Perodua is that it is quite meticulous with its market research and have laser focus on what its customers want.

Perodua is also known to be very cautious with pricing, always considering the maximum price that the brand can bear.

Given that it is partnering with some of the biggest EV suppliers from China, Perodua might have worked out a supply chain that contributed a lot more to the design and integration of the product than we imagine.

This is certainly true in China where OEMs seem to operated on a menu system when it comes to features and technology based on what is the lowest cost and fastest to market options that vendors can supply.

China's vendors seem to have a much faster turnaround time and are much more capable of designing complete modules than their western or even Japanese and Korean counterparts.

While Proton is targeting mid-November as its launch window for the e.Mas 5, Perodua is also expected to hit market within a few weeks of that and that gives us about six weeks of suspense before all is known.

Given the information so far, my guess is that Perodua's EV might be priced just slightly higher than Proton's because it is offering at least 400km of range from its battery which is expected to be around 50kWh.

Perodua's styling, as can be gleaned from, the display at the 2025 Malaysia Autoshow indicates that it is going after something more exciting and adventurous, which makes sense if you want to make a splash.

However it is likely that the sportier Perodua may not be as generous when it comes to interior space and practicality, which would be a break with tradition for the company.

For the Malaysian consumer, this spells good news, as we are not only getting local EV offerings at really good pricing but we are also getting variety. Best of luck to both our boys

The EV market is about to ramp up in 2026 and we are in luck.

Anyone knows which SA is the best to go with? EON? Regal motors? Wheelcorp? Peringgit?

I guess the offer is same across since it's still the "hot" period

Anyone knows which SA is the best to go with? EON? Regal motors? Wheelcorp? Peringgit?

I guess the offer is same across since it's still the "hot" period

Anyone knows which SA is the best to go with? EON? Regal motors? Wheelcorp? Peringgit?

I guess the offer is same across since it's still the "hot" period

Anyone knows which SA is the best to go with? EON? Regal motors? Wheelcorp? Peringgit?

I guess the offer is same across since it's still the "hot" period

https://soyacincau.com/2025/11/06/more-wuli...on-to-malaysia/

Wuling Bingo to be launched also by yearend

More competition is good. Price will come down

Perodua first EV has indicated price of around 80k  some source said. (Pault*n)

Officially below 90k
https://soyacincau.com/2025/11/21/peroduas-...irms-qv-e-name/

Come competition still are reluctant to engage price wars