PORT KLANG: Tron Bradbury Energy (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (TBE) will establish a regional electric vehicle (EV) hub in Malaysia.

       Towards the hub development, the EV automotive and battery manufacturer signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with asset managers Bradbury Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd in a ceremony here today.

       The construction of the hub is projected to start during the second quarter of this year and is located in the Malaysia Vision Valley (MVV).

       TBE director Mohamad Zam Zalman Tik said the hub would scale up its capacity from an EV assembly operation to include full-scale manufacturing and distribution capacities and a cutting-edge battery research and development (R&D) facility.

       "The hub is projected to generate an estimated revenue of more than RM2 billion annually,” he said at the opening ceremony of TBE’s first EV assembly plant at the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) today.

       The assembly plant, which will focus on commercial EVs and energy storage systems, was launched by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

       In his speech, Tengku Zafrul said TBE is set to transform its current assembly operation in PKFZ into a dedicated manufacturing facility and plans to establish a battery R&D facility in Malaysia.

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       "These two plans, when realised, will mark a significant step forward, and I am excited to see the positive impact and opportunities it will bring to our people, supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and Malaysia as a whole,” he said.

       The minister said despite the EV industry being relatively new in Malaysia, statistics indicate a significant upward trend in the EV demand last year with the sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) shooting up by over 200 per cent year-on-year to more than 10,000 BEVs sold, compared to about 3,000 units in 2022.

       "If we combine hybrid and full EVs, the volume of electrified vehicles sold last year made up about five per cent of nearly 800,000 units total industry volume (TIV), which is a 70 per cent year-on-year increase.

       "Our target is to have EVs reach at least 20 per cent of TIV by 2030, 50 per cent by 2040 and 80 per cent by 2050, and I am confident we are on the right track to reach those targets,” he added. - Bernama