Owners of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) will find it increasingly difficult to refuel their vehicles as the Malaysia government is phasing out its usage in stages, with the final coffin in that NGV tank to be metaphorically nailed in on 1 July 2025.
Following the cut-off date, these vehicles will be banned from being registered or used on Malaysian roads. The move to phase out NGVs was announced by transport minister Anthony Loke and was said to be implemented following safety concerns.
“The NGV tanks of these vehicles are now reaching the end of their service life and need to be replaced,” he reasoned.
Typically, these tanks have a service life of 15 years and must be replaced after that. Some owners have taken to modifying their vehicles to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders. This is the same ones you use at home for cooking. Needless to say, these tanks were never meant for NGV use and there were some explosions during accidents.
Petronas is one of the leading sales points for NGV and will immediately begin the process of halting sales at its petrol stations, albeit in stages with the completion set for 1 July 2025.
According to the minister, around 45,000 vehicles will be impacted. The breakdown comprises 9,509 taxis, 32,137 private registered vehicles, 2,150 natural gas fueled buses/lorries and 587 NGV machinery works.
Eligible owners will receive assistance from the government for them to transition to petrol vehicles. Owners of dual-fuel vehicles will be able to get the NGV kits removed for free, but only at workshops appointed by the transport ministry and must have been registered with the road transport department (JPJ) before 1 October 2024.
Taxi drivers running NGV taxis will receive a one-off payment of RM3,000 that will be made via the Petronas Setel app. Again, these taxis must be registered with land public transport agency (APAD) before 1 October 2024. Loke has said that applications for the one-off payment for NGV taxi owners will close on 31 December 2024.
To avoid people from abusing this payment, anyone that registers as a NGV taxi driver after 30 September 2024 will not be eligible for this one-off payment.
It will be a little trickier for owners of pure-NGV vehicles as they will receive a one-off payment based on the current value of their cars. How will this be determined? Well, an independent appraiser will be appointed to carry out the task, after which the cars will be disposed safely at an authorised automotive treatment facility (AATF).
