Indonesia's Green Sky Efforts: Gaikindo Highlights the Role of Incentives

WUHU, KOMPAS.com – Can Indonesia achieve cleaner air quality like Beijing? This question arises amid efforts to accelerate the adoption of electrified vehicles in the country. Vice Chairman of Market Development at Gaikindo, Jongkie D. Sugiarto, believes the opportunity remains open but heavily depends on the direction of government policy, particularly regarding incentives. “Actually, what is the goal of promoting electric cars? It’s to save fuel and reduce pollution because Indonesia is part of the Paris Agreement,” Jongkie said when met in Wuhu, China, on Saturday (25/4/2026). “At that time, we asked why BEV is supported? Why not HEV? Why not PHEV? Especially now there’s REEV. These vehicles deserve incentives,” Jongkie added. He stressed that the incentive scheme does not have to be uniform but can be tailored to the characteristics of each technology. Jongkie explained that vehicles like Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), and Range Extender Electric Vehicle (REEV) still offer significant benefits. Besides lower emissions because the internal combustion engine (ICE) is rarely used, fuel consumption is also more efficient by 20–30 percent. On the other hand, these types of vehicles do not fully depend on charging infrastructure and have relatively more affordable prices because the battery capacity is smaller. “These cars have low pollution because the engine rarely runs. Since the ICE engine rarely runs, fuel consumption is 20-30 percent more efficient. These cars also don’t need charging stations. The price of these cars is not as expensive as BEV because the battery is small,” Jongkie said. He also reminded that Indonesia should not repeat Thailand’s experience, which is considered to have switched too quickly to BEVs, impacting the conventional vehicle components industry. According to him, incentives for HEV, PHEV, and REEV not only encourage sales but also maintain the sustainability of the components industry such as radiators, exhausts, and filters. On the other hand, he highlighted that various current incentives for electrified vehicles are starting to decrease, even though their contribution is important in curbing subsidised fuel consumption while reducing pollution.