Bahlil Believes Hydrogen Cars Will Rival EVs

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia believes hydrogen-powered vehicles will become serious competitors to battery-based electric vehicles within the next five to ten years. He said the development of hydrogen technology continues to progress, making it a potential primary alternative in the energy transition for the transport sector. “My conviction is that, at the latest, within 5 to 10 years, hydrogen will rival battery-based electric vehicles,” Bahlil stated at the Global Hydrogen Ecosystem Summit and Exhibition 2026 in Jakarta. Bahlil observed that the competition between hydrogen technology and battery electric vehicles has actually been ongoing for quite some time. According to him, Japan is one of the countries pushing the development of hydrogen technology, whilst China is more focused on advancing the electric vehicle ecosystem. “This debate sees hydrogen led by a country in Asia, but I need not mention which country is researching it, while EVs are being developed by China. This is a technological rivalry,” he said. Nevertheless, Bahlil stressed that Indonesia does not intend to side with any single technology. The government, he said, will choose the technology that best suits the national interest. “For me, the state’s alignment will be determined firstly by our continued use of clean energy, secondly by energy efficiency, and thirdly by the energy being producible within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia,” Bahlil concluded.