001.docx
DOI: 10.3303/CET2189105
Paper Received: 3 May 2021; Revised: 17 October 2021; Accepted: 20 November 2021
Please cite this article as: Jamaludin N.F., Hashim H., Ho W.S., Lim L.K., Sulaiman N.S., Demoral A., Tirta A., Kresnawan M.R., Safrina R.,
Rosalia S.A., 2021, Electric Vehicle Adoption in ASEAN; Prospect and Challenges, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 89, 625-630
DOI:10.3303/CET2189105
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS
VOL. 89, 2021
A publication of
The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
Online at www.cetjournal.it
Guest Editors: Jeng Shiun Lim, Nor Alafiza Yunus, Jiří Jaromír Klemeš
Copyright © 2021, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
ISBN 978-88-95608-87-7; ISSN 2283-9216
Electric Vehicle Adoption in ASEAN; Prospect and
Challenges
Nabila Farhana Jamaludina, Haslenda Hashima,*, Wai Shin Hoa, Lek Keng Lim a,
Nurul Syahirah binti Sulaimana, Alnie Demoralb, Andy Tirtab, M Rizki Kresnawanb,
Rika Safrinab, Silvira Ayu Rosaliab
a School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
b Modelling and Policy Department, ASEAN Centre for Energy
haslenda@utm.my
Energy demand in transportation sector is increasing and the transportation sector currently emits high amount
of greenhouse gases. Electric vehicles (EVs) were introduced to mitigate these emission of greenhouse gases.
EVs are well-deployed at leading countries such as China, Europe, and United States due to EV-friendly policies
and well-planned EV charging infrastructure. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is following these
leading countries and aims to become the next EV hub. Effective deployment of EVs not only require
involvement from governments but also willing consumers that push EVs into communities. A survey was carried
out among policy makers, manufacturers, and academia to determine suitable policies and financial incentives
to increase deployment of EV in the market. The survey also included the hurdles and issues faced by the
community to adopt EVs, and identifies that high purchase cost and charging issues are hampering the
deployment of EV in ASEAN. EV-friendly policies and financial incentives were suggested in the survey and will
be a good reference material for EV manufacturers and policy makers in ASEAN.
1. Introduction
One of the main factors that leads to the adoption of pure electric vehicles (EVs) is the energy crisis caused by
the depletion of fossil resources that has become an urgent issue. According to Li et al. (2019), the greenhouse
gasses (GHGs) emission can be reduced by about 99.2 % by introducing EVs to replace gasoline Internal
combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Many countries have announced various policies to increase the use of
EVs within their countries to meet global reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets and improve air
quality in urban centres (Capuder et al., 2020). Europe, China, and United States are known as the leading
countries in EV penetration while Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries are lagging in
terms of EVs sales for multiple reasons (Walton et al., 2020). Therefore, with the goals to enhance the production
of EVs in ASEAN and to shift the country to a marketing hub for EVs in the future, policies for EVs have been
introduced in each ASEAN countries. However, these government interventions in the form of pro-environment
policies and their subsequent lukewarm response from manufacturers to these policies have been insufficient
to bring about a shift from ICEVs to EVs (Chhabra, 2020). It is positive consumer perception that will influence
the rate of EV uptake and ensure the transformation to full electrification will take place (Xiuhong et al., 2018).
Consumers already have many variables to assess when it comes to making a purchasing decision on regular
cars, and EVs compounds that problem. A survey has been conducted to evaluate the potential of EV adoption
in ASEAN countries and found that in order to promote acceptance of EV technology, knowledge and awareness
is essential. This survey was carried out in August 2021 from the convenience sampling of respondents from 8
ASEAN countries. This survey was distributed via google forms and 28 respondents from different countries
were received. This study, performed in collaboration with ASEAN Centre of Energy (ACE) which is responsible
for development of Electric Vehicle (EV) Integration in South East Asia Region, was designed to collect feedback
and opinion from representatives of stakeholders of EV adoption in ASEAN. Figure 1 highlights the composition
of the survey demographic; the respondents can be classified to those from policy making background
625
(government, ministry, agency), followed by industry background (manufacturer, technical services), and lastly
from academia background (college, university and etc.). The respondents are from Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. They hold various positions in their
background such as director, analyst, engineer, technical officer, researcher, lecturer, education officer, and etc.
Figure 1: Respondents Affiliation
As shown in Figure 2, Malaysia and Indonesia had the highest number of respondents (32.14%), followed by
Thailand (14.3%), Cambodia (7.14%), Myanmar, The Philippines and Singapore (3.57%).
Figure 2: Respondents nationality
2. Survey Design
The survey consists of three sections: Section I whereby the participants were to assess their knowledge and
preferences to purchase EV, as well as their country’s state of implementation and promotion of EVs via multiple
choice question or a rating scale of 1-5. 1 means “strongly disagree”, 2 means “disagree”, 3 means “partially
agree”, 4 means “agree” and 5 means “strongly agree”. In section II, the participants had to evaluate their
country’s policies promoting EV adoption and identify factors restricting EV adoption at a national level via the
rating scale of 1-5 as mentioned above. In section III, they had to assess technological factors leading to EV
adoption and implementation required to boost EV technology. In all three sections, participants have the
provisions to suggest or provide extra information that is relevant to their respective section. The survey was
created using google forms to be completed by participants prior to the 2021 Workshop on vRE Smart Microgrid
in ASEAN region sessions. The analysis of the survey will be discussed in the next section.
3. EV in ASEAN – Prospect and Challenges
In this section, a deeper analysis into each of the survey response to evaluate the level of maturity of eight EV
markets in Southeast Asia – Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Brunei, Philippines, Singapore,
Myanmar – will be discussing. Based on survey response shown in Figure 3, most of the countries in ASEAN
are still at the early stage of adopting EV. Hence, the result shows that they are still in policy implementation
stage and in the process of EV charging network (infrastructure) deployment. This survey intends to discover
21%
43%
36%
Academia/ College/ University
Government/ Ministry/ Agency
Industry/ Manufacturing/ Technical services
626
the consumer challenges, perspectives, and preferences in order for EV adoption. The survey also includes
some comparison with successful countries with high EV penetration as benchmarks.
Figure 3: Readiness level of EV implementation of ASEAN countries
3.1 Consumer perspectives
From Table 1, it can be seen there were some noticeable changes in consumer attitudes toward EVs from 2018
to 2020 for France, Germany, Italy, UK, and China. The number one concern in France shifted to driving range
from cost price, while driving range remained the greatest concern in Germany. However, the statistics also
show a reduction in driving range as a concern in those two markets. In Italy, the lack of charging infrastructure
has become the main challenge for consumers since 2018, while in 2020 UK had started reflecting on the
possibility of EVs as a realistic option and are considering the practicalities of ownership. In China, the
consumers’ concern also shifted from driving range to safety of battery in EVs which shows the maturity of the
consumers’ knowledge on EVs. However, in ASEAN countries, it shown that the cost price is the biggest concern
for owning an EV. This is common in new adopter countries as the switch to EVs is often perceived to be
expensive due to the higher costs in batteries contributing to the higher purchase price of the vehicle. Apart from
the price factor, infrastructure, charging time, and driving range are also factors that discourage consumers to
purchase an EV.
Table 1: Comparison of consumer priorities global and ASEAN level
Main factors that you
would consider before
buying an EV
Francea Germanya Italya UKa Chinaa ASEANb
2018 2020 2018 2020 2018 2020 2018 2020 2018 2020 2021
Driving Range 31 % 28 %* 35 %* 33 %* 4 % 27 % 26 %* 22 % 25 %* 22 % 14 %
Cost price 32 %* 22 % 22 % 15 % 19 % 13 % 24 % 16 % 9 % 12 % 32 %*
Charging time 11 % 15 % 11 % 14 % 18 % 16 % 13 % 16 % 12 % 15 % 23 %
EV Charging
infrastructure
16 % 22 % 20 % 25 % 44 %* 32 %* 22 % 33 %* 18 % 20 % 22 %
Safety of battery tech 4 % 11 % 5 % 10 % 7 % 10 % 6 % 12 % 22 % 31 %* 9 %
Others 6 % 2 % 7 % 3 % 8 % 2 % 9 % 1 % 14 % 0 % 0 %
*greater concerns
Source: a) 2020 Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Study, b) Survey response from this study
3.2 Factors to enable EV adoption in ASEAN
Based on the survey, in order for ASEAN to accelerate the rate of EV adoption, there are three different factors
that should be addressed to increase the feasibility and attractiveness of EVs. They are the total cost of
ownership, charging time, charging infrastructure, and driving range.
17
18
19
20
21
My country aim
to become an EV
producer
My country aim
to implement EV
policies
My country aim
to build EV
infrastructures
(e.g., charging
stations)
My country is
supporting EV
R&Ds
My country keen
to market EV
R&Ds innovation
Pe
rc
en
ta
ge
(%
)
627
3.2.1 EV cost
The average price of the EV in ASEAN is around USD 50,000 to USD 100,000 based on Figure 4. From the
survey result in Table 1, this range of prices is considered the biggest deterrent to ASEAN consumers in
purchasing EV. According to McKinsey (2019) report consumers are considering EVs, but not as many are
buying. Insights from the McKinsey’s EV consumer survey show higher costs compared to conventional vehicles
is found to be a barrier to adoption of EV. To address this issue, it may be worthwhile to consider the total cost
of ownership which includes all costs incurred during a vehicle’s lifecycle in the comparison between EVs and
ICEVs. Up-front purchase price is only part of the cost consumers pay to own their EV. Savings can be made
from the daily operation and maintenance of EVs when factoring in savings from gas, unscheduled repairs, and
resale value of gas-powered vehicles. In addition, Seba (2020) forecasted that a 200-mile range EV purchase
price will be competitive to a conventional ICE vehicle by 2022.
Figure 4: Average current cost of (a) BEV, (b) PHEV, (c) HEV, (d) FCEV in ASEAN country
However, it is undeniable that incentives and rebates from policies or government initiatives will boost up the
EV industry. From the survey, most of respondents agree that financial related assistance will help in promoting
EV in their country as shown in Figure 5. This includes measures such as tax exemption for EV users, tax
exemption on EVs, tax benefits for EV manufacturers, and special tariff for EV charging.
Figure 5: Implementation of financial mechanisms to promote use of EVs in ASEAN countries
3.2.2 Charging time and charging infrastructure readiness
Charging time is seen as another big challenge for consumers. Respondents in the survey are expecting electric
vehicles to recharge its battery in a convenient way, and without wasting their time. By looking at Figure 6, it
can be seen that most of the ASEAN consumers prefer the charging facilities be provided at their workplace
0
10
20
30
40
50
<50 50-100 100-150 >150
Pe
rc
en
ta
ge
(%
)
Cost Price (USD k)
0
10
20
30
40
50
<50 50-100 100-150 >150
Pe
rc
en
ta
ge
(%
)
Cost Price (USD k)
0
10
20
30
40
50
<50 50-100 100-150 >150
Pe
rc
en
ta
ge
(%
)
Cost Price (USD k)
0
10
20
30
40
50
<50 50-100 100-150 >150
Pe
rc
en
ta
ge
(%
)
Cost Price (USD k)
a) b)
c) d)
12 13 14 15 16
Tax benefits for EV manufacturer
Tax exemption on vehicle price
Tax exemption for vehicle user
Higher purchase cost of fossil fuel vehicle
Special tariff for EV charging
Vehicle-to-grid program for EV users
Dynamic electricity tariff
Percentage (%)
628
first, followed by home, public charging station, and shopping mall parking area. From this pattern, it can be
inferred that they mostly choose the area they spend their time most. The longer time spent in a single area will
allow for longer uninterrupted charging. The accessibility and interoperability of charging infrastructure is a major
source of concern not only for EV consumers, but also governments and public utilities. To increase the return
on investment (ROI), ASEAN economies should consider the implementation of demand-optimised location
prioritisation of charging facilities, and introduce digital solutions (e.g., apps to monitor charging percentage
while consumers is away from their car) for consumer’s convenience. This initiative has been introduced by
General Motors through their Ultium Charge 360 apps that will allow drivers to access information of EV’s battery
(Edelstein, 2021), locate available charging stations along a route and provide plug in and pay features
(Korosec, 2021). According to Ramer (2021), CEO of EV Connect these digital transitions can increase data
transparency, grow the profitability of the EV charging business (better ROI), improve strategy and in same time
maintain driver satisfaction.
Figure 6: Consumer response on preferable area to charge EV
3.2.3 Driving range
Another finding in this survey highlights driving range to be one of the top concerns hindering EV adoption in
ASEAN countries. Commonly known as range anxiety among EV owners, it is when an EV driver finds that the
battery charge is low and the usual sources of electricity are unavailable. It sparks a fear of getting stranded
which adds time, inconvenience, and stress to a journey. This can also be related back to a lack of charging
infrastructure and completes the EV charging conundrum: low EV adoption leading to inadequate charging
infrastructure which hinders further EV adoption. Apart from convenient and well-established charging stations,
consumer education and ownership experience will be key to addressing range anxiety. Based on survey
response in Figure 7, governments and manufacturers can aim to promote awareness by promoting EVs on
online media platforms, organize EVs events and showcases, and conduct educational events on EVs to
educate the public. All the actions described below help to address and overcome key consumer barriers related
to awareness and understanding of electric vehicle technology.
Figure 7: Initiatives to increases awareness of EV adoption
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Co
m
pa
ri
so
n
Pe
rc
en
ta
ge
(%
)
Grocery store parking area
Restaurant area
Shopping mall parking area
Public charging station
Recreational area
Entertainment location
Home
Workplace
11
12
13
14
15
16
Co
m
pa
ri
so
n
Pe
rc
en
ta
ge
(%
)
Town hall session by agencies,
organisations or community
Promotion of EV on online media platforms
(e.g., social medias, television, and radio)
Promotion of EV on print media platforms
(E.g., newspaper, magazine, and brochure
Educational events on EV
EVs events and showcases (e.g., ride-and-
drives events, tourism events)
EV technology award and recognition
events
EV training sessions with professionals
629
4. Conclusions
From the survey response, it is clearly shown that ASEAN countries are receptive to the idea of transitioning
towards electric vehicles. This survey focused on how actions to address awareness and understanding might
influence electric vehicle uptake. Education and incentives are also key to expanding the EV market; policy
makers and manufacturers can focus on educating the consumers first by promoting the EV benefits to
overcome any misconceptions among the public and, at same time, construct strategies to entice EV transition
such as deployment of infrastructure, financial, and non-financial incentives. EV is the future, and the technology
is quickly maturing. ASEAN countries will need to adequately prepare for the EV transition, or stand to lose
valuable time, energy, and resources to catch up. However, this result does not represent the overall population
in its entirely since it is only based on 28 respondents. Hence, to obtain more reliable and accurate data in the
future, a larger sample size is required so that all subgroups in ASEAN are represented.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by the Asean Centre of Energy (ACE) through Study on Variable Renewable Energy
(vRE) Smart Microgrid – Electric Vehicle (EV) Integration in South East Asia Region and Professional
Development Research University grant Q.J130000.21A2.05E75 under Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
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Electric Vehicle Adoption in ASEAN; Prospect and Challenges