Perodua eMO EV final prototype – now a B-SUV, batt leasing confirmed, guaranteed resale value, Q4 launch

This is the Perodua eMO EV concept, the headlining act of the Malaysia Autoshow (MAS) 2025 that opens to the press today at MAEPS Serdang. This is the third episode of the Electric Motion Online, after P2 wheeled out the eMO-II concept at the Kuala Lumpur International Mobility Show (KLIMS) late last year.

This is the final rehearsal before the the production car – Perodua’s first electric vehicle – debuts in Q4 2025. It comes a week after the first spyshots of the camouflaged EV surfaced online. Those images, which show a wide-stanced hatchback with big wheels, is a refreshing sight in the EV arena, a big contrast with the cutesy jellybean shaped EVs from China such as the Geely Star Wish a.k.a. upcoming Proton eMas 5, and the TQ Wuling Bingo.

The eMO-II from KLIMS, a five-door hatchback, has morphed into a jacked-up SUV crossover type of car that reminds us of the Toyota C-HR. Perodua says that it set out to create a car with a ‘sporty silhouette with strong side character’ and ‘higher ground clearance to give crossover looks and a sporty image’. Those are 18-inch wheels, the biggest ever to appear on a Perodua.

The showcar at MAS 2025 is finished in a super dark Vantablack-style skin, but visible cues include flush front door handles and rear handles ‘hidden’ next to the windows, Honda HR-V-style. There are full-width LED bars at both ends of the car, of course.

There are no dimensions yet, but Perodua president and CEO Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Ahmad calls it a ‘small B’. To our eyes the eMO is bigger than the Myvi and will easily dwarf over the upcoming eMas 5 and Bingo, EVs that will play in the sub-RM100 bracket that Perodua is targeting (the Bingo is CKD and will be priced below RM100k, and Proton will eventually assemble its junior EV in Tg Malim). This is ‘very very close’ to the production car, Zainal said.

In February, Zainal floated a possible RM80,000 starting price for the company’s EV, but without the battery, and he has now confirmed that P2’s EV will offer Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) battery leasing – a first in Malaysia.

Said battery is a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) unit sourced from CATL, with a target range of between 400 to 410 km. The performance target is a 0-100 km/h time of between six and seven seconds and top speed of around 165 km/h.

“The battery will be leased to buyers. The ‘rental’ fee is the minimum, and based on surveys by Perodua, many are in favour of this method,” Zainal said then, adding that the EV battery leasing scheme lowers the cost of the car and ensures that owners will always have a battery in the best condition.

Another major concern that the general public has about EVs – and P2 prospects surely aren’t the type that ‘can afford’ or are willing to lose a big chunk of the car’s purchase price – is resale value. It’s plain to see that depreciation for EVs are way beyond the level we’ve seen with ICE cars – the risk of a degraded battery that will be very costly to replace is factored in the poor RV. Battery leasing erases this issue.

There will also be the option of purchasing the car with the battery outright. Buy the battery and you’ll get a standard warranty of eight years, Zainal says. Speaking of resale values, the P2 chief said that Rawang is looking at a ‘guaranteed future value’ scheme where the EV’s RV is protected.

Pre-production will start in September and Perodua is on track to fulfil its promise to launch this self-developed EV (Daihatsu has no suitable donor car, this platform is P2’s IP) in Q4 2025. Production will start at a rate of 500 units a month in a new BEV plant in Sg Choh. This will be the first time P2 will use hot press-formed steel in a car.

So, based on what has been revealed so far, what do you think of the Perodua eMO as an EV below RM100k?

GALLERY: Perodua eMO final prototype at MAS 2025

GALLERY: Perodua eMO-II Concept at KLIMS 2024

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