Hybrid cars not yet suitable for Jakarta

Hybrid cars not yet suitable for Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hollywood celebrities have started using hybrid cars to attend
the much-awaited, much-broadcast annual awards ceremony for movie
artists.

Oscar-winning actors Charlize Theron and Morgan Freeman, as
well as Orlando Bloom, Susan Sarandon and Salma Hayek were among
those arriving in Toyota Prius or Highlander Hybrid SUV at the
event last year.

Hybrid cars -- cars that have a combination of two or more
power sources -- started to hit the roads in major cities across
the world over the past few years.

However, automotive manufacturers have not seemed to have been
interested in marketing such cars in Jakarta, due to several
problems.

President director of PT Toyota Astra Motor, an Indonesian arm
of Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp., Johnny Darmawan acknowledged
there were too many things to consider before offering hybrid
cars here.

"First, you have to consider that the products are actually
still on trial and are not massively produced yet. This means
that the price is still way too expensive," he told The Jakarta
Post in a recent interview.

Citing an example, he said that even in the United States,
which is the biggest auto market in the world, Toyota has only
sold hybrid cars numbering thousands. There Prius model is sold
for about US$21,000.

He added that the U.S. government has been very supportive of
carmakers, providing facilities such as tax relief.

"The price is already way too expensive (even for the U.S.
market). If the Indonesian government wants to introduce
environmentally-friendly cars onto the country's roads, then the
entrance (import) fee should be zero," Johnny said, adding that
the biggest auto market here is for middle income people.

Separately, Peter Froeschle of DaimlerChrysler supported
Johnny's statement, saying that in Europe cars with zero emission
also have zero import tariffs.

However, he emphasized that manufacturers were still looking
for ways to produce these cars of the future vehicles on a mass
scale in a bid to make them more attractive and affordable to
consumers.

"In the next five years, we, DaimlerChrysler, and other
competitors, such as Toyota and Honda, are looking for ways to
cut production costs. Whoever manages to do it first, that
manufacturer will lead the market," he told the Post on the
sidelines of a seminar on future energy technology.

Both Johnny and Froeschle stressed that proper infrastructure
is required in countries that want to see hybrid cars on their
roads.

Johnny said hybrid cars, which mostly combine the use of
gasoline and batteries, are sensitive to road conditions.

"What will happen to the cars if the roads, like Jakarta's
roads, are flooded every time the rain falls?" he said.

Meanwhile, Froeschle -- who guaranteed that his Mercedes-Benz
A-Class F-Cell using combined battery and hydrogen power would be
able to drive through water -- was more concerned about refilling
stations for hybrid cars.

DaimlerChrysler Southeast Asia vice president Udo Loersch
acknowledged the problem, saying that even in Singapore, where
the F-Cell project is based for Asia outside Japan, it was
difficult to persuade oil companies to set up alternative fuel
refilling stations.

So far, only one refiling station was available in the city-
state for the six-fleet A-Class F-Cell. (006)