Indonesia pushes electric car development
The Indonesian government is encouraging businesses to develop electric cars to create more environmentally friendly transportation, said the Transportation Ministry’s expert of staff for technology and environment affairs Prasetyo Buditjahjono.
He said the market share for electric cars is set to reach 20 percent in 2025.
“Developing electric cars is the best way to go. There are no better choices,” said Prasetyo at the 53rd anniversary of the University of Indonesia’s (UI) Technology School in Jakarta on Sunday.
UI’s electricity car development team deputy chairman Mohamad Adhytya said there were a number of reasons why electric cars needed to be developed, including the depletion of fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions.
“The benefit of using electric cars includes zero emissions, lower operating costs and cheaper energy,” Mohamad told kompas.com on Monday, adding that the electric car was also more efficient because electricity can be easily transmitted.
However, engineers also needed to anticipate a number of disadvantages, including the lengthy charging process, what to do with old batteries and the limited distance attained by electric cars.
He said it was a challenge for the experts to develop fast charging batteries and a more efficient waste recycle process. “After being continuously used, batteries should be replaced. We need technology to solve these problems.”
The government has issued Presidential Regulation No. 22/2017 on the general plan for national energy to support the development of electric cars.