Support for Electric Vehicles: Aptrindo Urges Incentives for Truck Fleet

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Freight transport operators are working to support accelerated adoption of electric vehicles in the logistics sector. However, industry players hope the government will also provide support in the form of subsidies and fiscal incentives so the process of renewing truck fleets to electric vehicles can proceed more realistically. According to one source, Indonesia currently has foundations for a local electric vehicle industry, including for commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks. ‘Well, perhaps this should be conveyed to President Prabowo. What he wrote in Paradoks Indonesia, that we always use foreign-made trucks, foreign-made, now it’s starting. The groundwork yesterday in Magelang has already been inaugurated by him,’ said Gemilang in Jakarta, on Wednesday (20 May 2026). For information, in early April 2026, President Prabowo inaugurated the electric bus and truck manufacturing plant owned by VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas in Magelang, Central Java. VKTR itself has two main ideas in its business development: supporting decarbonisation to accelerate the Net Zero Emissions 2060 target or earlier, and strengthening national economic self-reliance through reduced oil imports. ‘So this can be pushed for fleet renewal of freight transport in Indonesia. Well, perhaps we already conveyed this to the Minister of Finance to bring it to the government’s attention,’ he said. ‘So that the direction is aligned with our use of electric trucks. If not, we will be consuming subsidised fuel forever,’ Gemilang added. Therefore, Aptrindo hopes the government can set up a scheme of assistance, subsidies, or special tax incentives for electric commercial vehicles. In this way, industry players will have the financial capacity to begin shifting from diesel-powered trucks to electric vehicles gradually.