Tesla never committed to building factory in Malaysia, says Zafrul

PETALING JAYA: The Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) never announced that Tesla would open a factory here, says Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

The minister said on Facebook yesterday that the US electric car maker had also never announced building a factory in Malaysia.

“The report is not an official statement from Tesla but rather quoting anonymous sources.

“Therefore, when asked, my response is that journalists should verify the accuracy of this news with Tesla, as the news source is not Tesla.

“Miti has never announced that Tesla would develop a factory in Malaysia. While we have had discussions with Elon Musk to attract investment, Tesla has never committed to opening a factory here,” he said.

Tengku Zafrul was responding to questions about a Thai news portal on Wednesday that claimed that Tesla had scrapped plans to build factories in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, and would instead focus solely on setting up charging stations.

Tengku Zafrul also dismissed claims that Tesla received special treatment from the government, stating that any company could apply for this initiative.

He said the government introduced the Global Electric Vehicle Battery Leader Initiative, which is open to any EV manufacturers including Tesla.

“The aim of this initiative is to enhance the charging network for local EV owners and to increase the involvement of local companies in the EV charging ecosystem.

“Through similar programmes, countries like China, Hong Kong and Norway have accelerated the shift to electric vehicles. As a result, many local SMEs have benefited from participating in the EV ecosystem.

“So far, Tesla is the only company that has applied for and been approved for participation in the global battery electric vehicles (BEV) initiative, but we welcome participation from other EV manufacturers,” he added.

The requirements for the manufacturers to participate are to install at least 50 ultra-fast chargers with a capacity exceeding 180 kWh, to ensure that at least 30% of these ultra-fast chargers developed in Malaysia for public use as well as to collaborate with at least 10 local companies to develop the EV charging service industry ecosystem among others.

Tengku Zafrul said the ministry would continue to strive to attract high-quality investments to the country as its strategy to attract investment in the automotive industry was not limited to Tesla alone.

He said that from 2022 to the first quarter of this year, Malaysia had attracted RM24.55bil in investments related to EV manufacturing from companies such as Chery, Gemilang Coachwork, Samsung SDI Energy, NexV Manufacturing, and EVE Energy.

“Our local manufacturers also support Tesla's global supply chain by supplying spare parts, components, and factory automation systems.

“In addition to automotive sector investments, the government is also attracting investments in various other sectors. For the first quarter of 2024 alone, approved investments total RM83.7bil, up 13% compared to last year."