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)