The Malaysian government has disclosed its decision to phase out the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) for vehicles and end the sale of natural gas vehicles (NGV) in the country.
According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), a local media organization, the Minister of Transport, Loke Siew Fook, stated this at a press conference recently.
In Malaysia, CNG is referred to as NGV.
Fook said CNG-powered vehicles can no longer be registered or be used in Malaysia from July 1, 2025.
He said there are also some car owners who have modified their vehicles using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders, which are very dangerous.
The minister said the vehicles had caused explosions during accidents.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in his reaction to the report, said the Malaysian issue speaks more to the safety of LPG and not the safety of CNG.
The statement released by Onanuga on x (formerly known as Twitter) reads, “Some clarification on the plan by Malaysia to phase out CNG powered vehicles:
“1. The Malaysian issue speaks more to the safety of LPG NOT safety of CNG. In the original report, government transport minister Anthony Loke said:
“There are also some car owners who have modified their vehicles using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders, which are very dangerous.
“The report also spoke about the safety of 15 year-old CNG cylinders.
“2. NGV covers both CNG and LPG. Nigeria in its transition has adopted CNG ONLY not both because of LPG valid safety and cost concerns
“3.Malaysia basically had an unsuccessful transition away from costly and dirtier petrol and diesel.
“Conversion of 45,000 vehicles in 15 years (less than 0.2%) is not enviable unlike India, China, Iran and Egypt.
“The end of 15 year CNG tank cycle means they need to replace tanks and it was easier/cheaper to scrap their program and continue with their petrol than to do so if they had not built tank manufacturing capacity which Nigeria is already developing in year one.”
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