Will having an electric vehicle save me money over time?

You want a straight answer, not cheerleading. So here it is. Whether you will save money by owning an electric vehicle in the long run depends on three variables you control, and two you do not. The ones you control are how you charge, what you buy, and how long you keep it. The ones you do not are policy and market prices. Put those five in the right configuration and an EV becomes a boringly good money decision. Put them in the wrong configuration and the total cost of ownership tilts against you even if you feel great skipping the petrol station.

Start with energy costs because that is the most immediate lever you feel in your wallet. As of late September 2025, Malaysia’s subsidised RON95 price for citizens is set at RM1.99 per litre with a monthly cap, while foreigners pay more. That new rate matters because it compresses the per-kilometre fuel advantage that made EVs a slam dunk in other markets. Cheaper petrol means an EV has to clear a higher bar to deliver savings from energy alone.

On the electricity side, the tariff structure was revamped in July 2025. For typical homes, the all-in domestic rate works out to about 44 to 45 sen per kWh once you include the new components such as capacity and network charges. That simplified schedule replaced the old five-tier system and sits under the regulator’s updated Incentive-Based framework through 2027. Translation for your budget: home charging costs are much easier to estimate now, and for most households, they are lower than many assume when they look only at the highest block rate from years past.

Public charging is different. In March 2025, Gentari raised rates at many locations. AC posts that used to be below a ringgit per kWh are now around RM1.00 to RM1.15. DC fast chargers at destination sites are around RM1.60 and highway DC often sits near RM1.70, with certain battery-boosted hubs at RM1.80. Because you pay per kWh, your per-kilometre cost rises fast the more you rely on DC. That is not a knock on the network. It is just the math you should do before handing your wallet to any charger that is not in your car porch.

Let us run that math clearly. Take a sensible compact EV that uses roughly 15 kWh per 100 km. Charge only at home at about RM0.445 per kWh and you are paying roughly RM6.68 per 100 km. Compare that with a petrol car that drinks seven litres per 100 km at RM1.99 and you are paying about RM13.93 per 100 km. At 15,000 km a year, home charging saves about RM1,088 on energy alone. Blend in some DC fast charging and the equation changes. With 70 percent home and 30 percent highway DC at RM1.70, your EV energy cost is about RM12.32 per 100 km, still a hair cheaper than petrol. At 60 percent home and 40 percent DC, you cross over to about RM14.21 per 100 km, which is more expensive than petrol. The break-even is around 61 to 62 percent of your kWh coming from home. If your lifestyle keeps you above that line, your energy savings are real. If your life is all highway and mall chargers, you are paying for the convenience.

Maintenance is your next lever. EVs skip oil and have fewer moving parts, and regenerative braking stretches pad life. Multiple datasets show lower routine maintenance and repair outlays, although the precise percentage depends on model and market. Consumer Reports has long tracked this and found EV owners generally spend less on service over an ownership cycle, while the U.S. Department of Energy’s consumer guidance pegs typical electricity-only running costs well below petrol on a per-mile basis. The spirit of those findings carries to Malaysia, even if the unit prices differ, because the mechanism is mechanical simplicity.

Two caveats matter. First, insurance. Insurers price risk based on parts and repair pathways. In 2025 studies and industry surveys from mature EV markets, premiums for EVs often run higher than for equivalent petrol cars because collision repairs can be pricier and certified repair networks thinner, even though routine service is cheap. It is not universal, and it is easing as more mainstream brands electrify, but it is a line item to get quoted before you decide.

Second, depreciation. Used EV values have been volatile, and that affects your exit price. Across hundreds of thousands of transactions in the U.S., EVs have shown steeper five-year depreciation than the market average, although the picture is model-specific and improving as battery costs fall and warranties reassure used buyers. If you are a short-cycler who sells in three to five years, that steeper depreciation can overwhelm your fuel savings. If you plan to drive the car for a long time, depreciation hurts less per year and the maintenance and energy gaps have more time to compound in your favour.

Policy is your wild card. Malaysia’s tax and fee incentives are real money. Fully imported EVs currently enjoy import and excise duty exemptions until 31 December 2025, while locally assembled EV components and certain tax perks run to the end of 2027. Road tax is fully exempt through the end of 2025, then a new kW-based structure kicks in from 2026 with notably lower rates than the old formula. In practice, an efficient EV in the 100 to 210 kW band will carry a very modest annual road tax compared with some ICE equivalents, while high-output EVs will pay more. There is also personal income tax relief for home charging equipment. If you lock in a purchase before exemptions lapse, your upfront and ongoing costs drop meaningfully. If you wait until 2026, factor the new road tax back in, which is still relatively low, and remember that imported EVs could lose the 2022 to 2025 tax shield unless fresh extensions are announced.

Battery life anxiety deserves a sober look because it ties directly to resale. Most mainstream EVs ship with eight-year battery warranties with distance caps that typically span 160,000 to 192,000 km and include a minimum capacity retention pledge. That warranty structure has been stable for years, and field data plus rapid declines in pack prices are improving the economics of long-term ownership. For a personal finance lens, what matters is that a mainstream EV’s battery is designed to outlast a typical auto loan term and that your risk of a catastrophic out-of-warranty bill in the first decade is lower than your social feed might imply, especially if you avoid extreme heat abuse and constant fast charging.

There is nuance around fast charging and battery wear that shows up at the margin. Laboratory and fleet analyses indicate that frequent DC fast charging can increase degradation, especially in hot climates, although modern thermal management and smarter charge curves have narrowed that gap. From a money angle, that means the more you can rely on home AC charging, the more you protect both your energy costs and your battery health, which protects your resale value. If you need DC a few times a month on road trips, you are fine. If you DC daily at 80 to 90 percent battery temperatures are higher, and your capacity will tend to slide a bit faster over the years.

Upfront gear is part of the decision tree. A basic 7 kW wallbox in Malaysia runs a few thousand ringgit, and installation typically adds roughly another one to two thousand depending on cable runs and panel capacity. Those are one-time costs you amortise over years of cheap home charging, and there is a personal income tax relief that helps offset them through 2027. If you rent or live in a strata that blocks chargers, you may not be able to take that home-charging path at all, which drags your total cost of ownership back toward parity or worse.

Now zoom out and look at the five variables again through a practical lens you can actually use.

If you can charge at home most nights and your lifestyle puts you above sixty percent home energy share, an EV will usually save you money on running costs at today’s prices. The savings are not theoretical. They show up each month you avoid the petrol pump and they add up over time. Malaysia’s new domestic tariff makes that math straightforward, and even with subsidised RON95 your annual energy spend often falls by four figures if you keep public DC use modest.

If you choose an efficient model rather than a high-output performance EV, you keep your road tax low under the 2026 structure and you tend to land a car with a calmer depreciation curve. That is not exciting to say out loud, but boring can be profitable. A 100 to 200 kW family EV keeps both your annual fees and your tyre budget saner, and it is more than quick enough for Malaysian roads.

If you plan to own the car for seven to ten years, you give yourself time to harvest maintenance and energy savings while letting any early depreciation wash through. That longer horizon also keeps you under the typical battery warranty umbrella for most of your use. Add in tax relief on your home charger and, if you buy before year-end 2025, the duty exemptions on certain models, and the total package leans positive.

On the flip side, if you depend heavily on highway fast charging, hop between models every three years, and pick a high-power EV with expensive tyres and insurance, the spreadsheet tilts. Several 2025 cost studies in markets with deep data show that depreciation and insurance can dominate the budget, with EVs costing more overall than similar petrol or hybrid vehicles despite cheaper energy per kilometre. That is not a universal truth, but it is a real trend you must price into your decision.

Where does that leave a Malaysian buyer right now. If your goal is purely to save money by owning an electric vehicle, optimise for the boring variables. Charge at home as much as possible. Pick an efficient single-motor model over a high-output dual-motor rocket. Hold the car for many years. Buy before year-end 2025 if a model you like qualifies for current exemptions, then budget modestly for the kW-based road tax from 2026 onward. Keep your insurance shopping tight and favour brands with strong parts supply and repair networks. If you hit those notes, you are stacking the deck in your favour and the long-run savings are real.

If, on the other hand, your lifestyle forces you to rely on DC fast charging often, your parking situation blocks a home charger, or you prefer to change cars quickly, you probably will not save money over a comparable petrol or hybrid in the next few years. You might still want an EV for the driving experience or environmental reasons. Just be honest with the math before you sign.

One last perspective check. Battery pack prices have fallen sharply in the past two years, and road tax after 2025 is designed to stay reasonable for mainstream power levels. Those two facts make the long-term direction friendlier to your wallet even if today’s picture is mixed. Markets move. Policy evolves. The trendlines on the cost side are bending the right way. Your job is to configure your own use case so that those trendlines benefit you rather than your charging app.

Net-net, yes, you can save money by owning an electric vehicle, but only if your day-to-day charging and model choice line up with what the Malaysian price board actually says in 2025. Do the math for your commute, your parking, your charger, your insurance quote, and your preferred holding period. If three or four of those variables are in your favour, you will like the financial outcome as much as the instant torque. If not, put a hybrid on your shortlist and re-run the numbers next year.