Indonesia plans 15mn electric vehicles on roads by 2030

The Indonesian government aims to have 2mn four-wheeled electric vehicles (EVs) and 13mn two-wheeled EVs on its roads by 2030, to cut emissions and save energy.

This will bring about energy savings of 29.79mn bl of oil equivalent (boe) and cut exhaust emissions by 7.23mn t of CO2 in 2030, according to special staff to the minister of energy and mineral resources (ESDM) Agus Tjahjana.

Indonesia's transport sector makes up around a third of the country's energy consumption and the 11mn cars on Indonesian roads produce more than 35mn t/yr of CO2, while trucks emit more than 50mn t/yr, according to ESDM secretary general Dadan Kusdiana.

The country's vehicle fleet is likely to grow in coming years because of its economic development, so decarbonising the transport sector is critical to achieving net zero emissions by 2060, said the ESDM. Greater electrification of transport will also allow Indonesia to reduce its fossil fuel imports.

Indonesia is keen to develop the EV battery supply chain from upstream to downstream, in view of its large nickel resources that can support the development of the industry, said Agus. Indonesia currently has nine facilities processing nickel ore into nickel and cobalt sulphate, which is one of the materials used in making EV batteries. Out of these, four are already operational while three are in the construction stage, and the remaining two are still undergoing feasibility studies.

The next step is to promote the manufacture of battery precursors, cathodes, battery cells and batteries, considering that the electric charging and battery recycling industries already exist, said Agus.

But there is still a large price gap between EVs and conventional vehicles, said Dadan. The Indonesian government is hence providing tax incentives and subsidies for electric cars, hybrid cars and electric motorbikes to cover this gap.

"Indonesia has prepared $455mn to subsidise the sale of electric motorbikes," said Dadan, adding that the subsidy covers the sale of 800,000 new electric motorbikes and the conversion of 200,000 combustion engine motorbikes.

The government estimates that 32,000 charging stations will be needed to meet demand by 2030. The total number of charging stations available was 1,566 as of April, said Agus, adding that the government aims to add up to 48,118 charging stations by 2030.

The ESDM has just approved 204 nickel mining work plans for exploration and production. The country produced 175.6mn t of nickel ore output in 2023.

By Prethika Nair