SERDANG: The Malaysia Association of Natural Gas Vehicle Installers (MANGVI) expects a 10% increase in the number of cars to be converted to natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in 2015, driven by the recent fuel subsidy rationalisation, as well as rising awareness of the alternative fuel, said its president Datuk Danny Tan.

“There are about 56,000 registered cars that have been converted to NGVs. We expect this to rise at a steady pace of 10% next year and it will be good if the amount can be doubled by 2020,” he told reporters in a media briefing yesterday.

Tan expects the growth of NGVs in the country to be in tandem with the global NGV growth, which climbed 10% to 16.73 million in 2012 from 15.19 million in the previous year. The statistics was collated from 84 countries.

He said Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is currently the only retailer in the country that offers compressed natural gas (CNG) — which is used to power NGVs — with 175 petrol stations nationwide, excluding Sabah and Sarawak.

“It would be good if Petronas can increase the number of stations. More importantly, the stations should be at strategic locations in densely populated areas,” he added.

Tan said the government plans to open another 25 stations next year, bringing the total number of NGV stations in the country to 200.

On CNG, Tan hopes the government will maintain the current selling price of 68 sen per litre.

“It was previously rumoured that Petronas plans to raise it to RM1 per litre. I hope that it won’t be soon, given the impending goods and services tax next year, and the possibility of further fuel subsidy rationalisation,” he said, adding that 80% of NGV users in the country are taxi drivers who will be affected by the increase.

MANGVI is a local industry body established in April 2009 to safeguard the interests of NGV installers.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 14, 2014.