Proton v BYD: The fate of Asean's national cars

While Chinese EV makers are dominant, South-east Asia's car brands are giving them a run for their money.

- Shannon Teoh Malaysia Bureau Chief Philip Wen Regional Correspondent

VinFast electric cars on display at the National Exhibition Centre in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Aug 31. VinFast accounted for more than 87,000 of the 91,500 EV units sold in Vietnam in 2024. It is seeking aggressive expansion in a youthful and growing Vietnamese market.

(PHOTO: REUTERS)

For most drivers, seeing your car's range drop to zero kilometres can be panic-inducing, and could portend a hike to the nearest fuel station to bring back a bottle or two of petrol.

Imagine if it happened with an electric vehicle (EV) and there was no charger in sight to juice up the car. Engineer Russell Ng had this happen with his Proton e.MAS 7the battery in the vehicle went totally flat while he was on the road.

But he said he barely broke a sweat.

"No big deal," said Mr Ng, who bought the car in February, just two months after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim launched the electric SUV.

"It was fine. It hit zero per cent just a short distance before I got to my condo in Johor Bahru."

The 45-year-old father of two said he knew of other electric car owners who managed to drive another 10km after their battery had ostensibly dropped to zero.

Such calm about what is commonly referred to as range anxiety in EV owners would have been unheard of just a few years ago, when these vehicles were still a niche product for the adventurous few in Southeast Asia.

Up until 2021, no Asean market saw electric cars - including plugin hybrids - make up more than 3 per cent of total industry volume.

Chargers, even in downtown Kuala Lumpur, were a curiosity and many internal combustion engine (ICE) cars would be - selfishly - parked at these charging spots. They were, in any case, vacant most of the time, considering that a mere 274 electric cars were sold in 2021.