For four years, electric cars in Malaysia paid no road tax. That ended on 31 December 2025, and every EV renewing since then pays under a new structure based on motor power. The rates are low compared with the old EV table, but they are not all RM20, and a search today returns calculators and articles with figures that do not match JPJ's own document.
This explainer is built on the primary source: the Road Transport Department's circular Surat Pekeliling Bahagian Pelesenan Kenderaan Bil. 01/2026, dated 1 April 2026, whose attachment sets out the road tax (LKM) rates for zero-emission vehicles in the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak. We also used Transport Minister Anthony Loke's announcement of the structure as reported by BERNAMA on 4 June 2024, JPJ's MyJPJ renewal FAQ and JPJ's 2026 list of compoundable offences. Motor outputs come from each manufacturer's Malaysian brochure or specification page.
How the new rate works
The rate applies to battery electric and fuel-cell vehicles only, which is what Loke announced in 2024. Hybrids keep an engine and there is nothing in the EV circular that moves them, so they stay on the familiar cc table. One schedule covers saloons and non-saloons, cars owned by individuals and companies, and private e-hailing cars.
Instead of a base rate plus a charge per watt, the table sets a flat fee for each 10,000 W (10 kW) block of motor power:
- Up to 50 kW: RM20.
- 50 to 100 kW: from RM30, rising RM10 per 10 kW block, to RM70.
- 100 to 210 kW: from RM80, rising RM20 per block, to RM280.
- 210 to 310 kW: from RM305, rising RM30 per block, to RM575.
- 310 to 410 kW: from RM615, rising RM50 per block, to RM1,065.
- Above that the step keeps growing, to RM14,415 for 1,000 to 1,010 kW and a flat RM20,000 beyond 1,010 kW.
To find your rate, take the motor output on your registration card or brochure and see which 10 kW block it falls in. A 150 kW car sits in the 140,001 to 150,000 W block and pays RM160. At 150.5 kW it would move into the next block and pay RM180.
What popular EVs pay
Worked from the JPJ table and each maker's published motor output:
- Proton e.MAS 5 Prime (58 kW) RM30, Premium (85 kW) RM60.
- BYD Dolphin Dynamic (70 kW) RM40, Premium (150 kW) RM160.
- BYD Atto 2 (130 kW) and MG4 Standard (125 kW) RM120.
- Perodua QV-E (150 kW), Chery Omoda E5 (150 kW) and BYD Atto 3 Ultra (150 kW) RM160.
- Proton e.MAS 7, all variants (160 kW), RM180.
- BYD Sealion 7 Dynamic (170 kW) RM200.
- Tesla Model 3 RWD (208 kW) RM280, Model Y RWD (220 kW) RM305. These two outputs are from the ministry's 2024 briefing slide, because Tesla Malaysia does not list kW.
- BYD Seal Premium and Sealion 7 Premium (230 kW) RM335.
- BYD Seal Performance and Sealion 7 Performance (390 kW) RM965.
For comparison, JPJ's petrol table charges an individually owned 1.5-litre saloon RM90 in the Peninsula and a 2.0-litre saloon (1,998cc) RM379. So a small EV is now in the same range as a small petrol car, while a dual-motor performance EV pays more than a 2.0-litre.
What electric motorcycles pay
Cars are not the only zero-emission vehicles with a schedule. JPJ's electric vehicle LKM guideline sets a separate and much flatter scale for motorcycles, under use code AA, and the June 2024 announcement left it alone — motorcycle rates did not change on 1 January 2026:
- 7,500 W (7.5 kW) and below: a flat RM2.
- 7,501 to 10,000 W: RM9.
- 10,001 to 12,500 W: RM12.
- 12,501 to 25,000 W: RM30.
- 25,001 to 40,000 W: RM40.
- Above 40,000 W: RM42.
The electric scooters and mopeds on sale in Malaysia are rated well under 7.5 kW, so the realistic answer for most riders is RM2 a year. RM42 is a ceiling, not a figure an ordinary commuter will meet.
Sabah, Sarawak, Langkawi and Labuan
The circular's heading covers the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak together, so an EV in Kuching or Kota Kinabalu pays exactly the same as one in KL. That is a change from petrol cars, where the Sabah and Sarawak table is cheaper. Paragraph 12 of the circular halves the rate for vehicles registered and used in Langkawi and Labuan. Pangkor and Tioman are not mentioned in the EV circular.
No discount year
Nothing in the circular phases the rate in for private cars. Some calculators and blogs mention a MyJPJ digital rebate or percentage discounts in 2026; we found no JPJ document supporting either.
Did Budget 2027 change EV road tax?
No. Budget 2027 was tabled on 9 October 2026, and the Finance Ministry's tax-measures appendices contain no change to EV road tax and no new rebate for EV buyers. The Malaysian Automotive Association had asked for an income tax rebate of RM7,000 to RM10,000 for electrified-car buyers; it is not in the tax measures. The only EV items are for companies: from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2030, the Green Investment Tax Allowance for EV charging station projects drops from 100% to 60% of spending, set off against 70% of statutory income instead of 100%. That touches charging operators, not what a driver pays at renewal. Road tax is set by JPJ, so any future change would come as a new circular rather than through the budget alone.
If you renewed before the exemption ended
Road tax is a licence issued for a period, normally 12 months. It is not a calendar-year charge, and the exemption applied to licences issued between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2025. An EV that renewed in November 2025 therefore holds a free licence that runs into November 2026, and starts paying only at its next renewal. We found no JPJ document that backdates the change or pro-rates the difference on a licence already issued. If you want the figure for your own car rather than the principle, MyJPJ shows the exact amount at checkout, before you pay.
Renewing, and the page to ignore
Renewal works as for any car. JPJ's MyJPJ FAQ says you can renew when the current road tax has less than two months left, you hold valid insurance, and the vehicle is not blocked. Channels include the MyJPJ app (individual citizen owners, local debit or credit card), JPJ counters and kiosks, Pos Malaysia and MyEG, and JPJ says the fee is the same everywhere. The digital road tax in MyJPJ has been accepted since February 2023, so there is no disc to display.
One warning. When we checked on 15 September 2026, JPJ's English rate calculation guide page still linked the 2022 electric vehicle guideline, a base-plus-progressive table from the exemption years. Use the 2026 circular or the fee MyJPJ shows at checkout, not that PDF.
The gap is not a rounding error. That 2022 guideline charges a saloon above 150,000 W a base of RM1,024 plus RM1.35 for every 50 W over the mark, so a 160 kW car works out at RM1,024 plus RM270, or RM1,294 — against RM180 under the 2026 circular. It also ran different scales for different body types, with a non-saloon above 150,000 W starting at RM903 rather than RM1,024, where the 2026 table is one scale for everyone. The one thing that old page is still right about is motorcycles: its RM2 to RM42 motorcycle scale is the one quoted above, and it is still current.
Why published figures disagree
Two mistakes run through the model-by-model lists that rank for this search, and you can check both yourself.
The first is kilowatts confused with horsepower. One widely shared table lists the Tesla Model 3 Performance at 461 kW. The car is rated at 460 hp, which is roughly 343 kW, so that is a horsepower number with the wrong unit on it — and it lifts the car several bands up the table. When a listed output sits suspiciously close to a familiar horsepower figure, it usually is one.
The second is a block placed wrongly. Paul Tan's January 2026 model list prints RM240 for the 150 kW Perodua QV-E. That cannot hold on its own arithmetic: the same article charges the more powerful 160 kW BYD Seal 6 Premium RM180, and a less powerful car never pays more on a single rising scale. Worked from the circular, 150,000 W falls in the 140,001 to 150,000 W block at RM160. RM240 is the rate for a car of 180 to 190 kW.
The check that settles any of them: the kW printed on your vehicle registration card is what JPJ charges, whatever a brochure or a list says, and MyJPJ shows the amount at checkout.
What an expired road tax costs
Driving with expired road tax is an offence under section 23(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, with a fine of up to RM2,000. JPJ's 2026 offence list sets the compound for a private vehicle with valid insurance at RM150 if paid within 15 days, RM200 within 30 days and RM300 within 60 days. Having no road tax at all under section 15(1) is not compoundable and goes to court.
