Top 20 EV cars in April – eMas 5 still top with 1,772 units, but eMas 7 trails Atto 3; QV-E in 18th, 52 units

It feels like we’ve been writing the same thing throughout all of this year, but the Proton eMas 5 was once again Malaysia’s top-selling EV for the month of April, according to the latest registration data from the road transport department (JPJ). The national-badged city car continued its strong sales with 1,772 units finding homes last month, making it Proton’s fourth best-selling model overall.

Even though last month’s sales were 299 units or 14.4% down on March, they still contributed strongly to an impressive year-to-date figure of 8,473 units. With eight months still to go, the eMas 5 is well-placed to far exceed 20,000 sales this year.

Things didn’t look so rosy for Proton’s other EV, the larger eMas 7. Its 636 registrations in April meant it trailed arch rival BYD Atto 3 Ultra (778 units sold) for the second month in the row, despite the latter still being tax-free units from 2025. This rather suggests that BYD imported a huge number of vehicles last year in anticipation of the ministry of investment, trade and industry’s (MITI) flip-flop policies.

Behind them sat the iCaur V23, which performed commendably by placing fourth with 365 units sold, just ahead of the Zeekr 7X‘s 303 units. Meanwhile, having battled fiercely with its Sealion 7 sibling and the iCaur 03 all year, the BYD Seal 6 sedan muscled ahead with 239 units sold, versus 182 units for the 03 and 163 units for the Sealion 7.

Rounding off the top 10 was a resurgent BYD Atto 2 in ninth (having languished down the order all year) with 115 units sold, as well as the Tesla Model 3 in tenth with 105 units. The latter was actually identical to the number of Xpeng G6s registered, although we placed the Tesla ahead based on its YTD standings (ninth, versus 13th for the Xpeng).

Further down, there were surprises in the form of the YTD tenth-placed MG4 dropping to a lowly 15th with only 81 units sold, while the Tesla Model Y slipped even further down to 17th with 67 units sold. The MG S5 also continued to stay off the list as the CKD locally-assembled model was only launched late last month.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the Perodua QV-E, which emerged on this list on merit with 52 units sold, beating the Zeekr 009 and Xpeng X9. This perhaps means that the quality issues that blighted the car earlier this year have been resolved, and it may finally be able to start accruing sales.

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