Electric Public Transportation Development Faces Several Challenges
- Dokumentasi VKTR.
Jakarta – The Indonesian government is continuing to accelerate electrification, as evidenced by the various electric vehicles that are starting to appear on the road recently, even there is also an electric-based public transportation.
Unfortunately, the development of electric vehicle-based public transportation in Indonesia still faces several challenges that need to be handled.
The Gaikindo General Secretary, Kukuh Kumara, explained several challenges faced in the effort to introduce electric-based public transportation in Indonesia. One is about a relatively high price.
"The price is five times that of a conventional car, so it's not yet affordable. In general, Electric Vehicle or EVs are more expensive because the battery is not cheaper," Kumara said in the Denpasar 12 Discussion Forum which was held online on Wednesday.
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- VIVA/M Ali Wafa
Kumara mentioned: "Compared to countries such as Japan and China, Indonesia still has lower sales of electric vehicles,"
This is largely due to differences in government incentives and priorities regarding electric vehicles. Although the market potential in Indonesia is huge, supporting the growth of electric vehicles requires hard work from the government and the automotive industry.
"The Chinese government provides incentives and subsidies for high electric vehicles of around US$1,500 per unit (IDR 22.9 million at an exchange rate of IDR 15,326 per US dollar). In Indonesia it is quite difficult, because of different priorities," Kumara said.
Moreover, Kumara said that charging station infrastructure is also an important challenge. The development of easily accessible charging station is key to increasing the more electric vehicle, especially for public transportation use.
"Traveling outside the city there should be information, where there is charging," he remarked.
Another challenge is safety and security. There are concerns regarding fire suppression in EV batteries which must be handled through proper firefighting training and regulations.
Kukuh Kumara also highlighted the importance of dealership readiness and after-sales service for electric vehicles, "With the advancement of technology, many issues can be addressed through computer systems, but the availability of good after-sales service is still very important."
