Jakarta (ANTARA) - The availability of charging infrastructure or charging stations can affect consumer interest in buying electric vehicles (EVs), economic and energy observer from Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Fahmy Radhi, has said.

"If the availability of charging stations is limited, it will be difficult for electric car owners, so consumers will not want to buy electric cars," he explained in a statement received here on Tuesday.

Charging infrastructure is the main key to increasing the number of electric vehicle users because the energy source for electric vehicles is electricity, which is channeled through charging stations.

As of May 2022, the number of public electric vehicle charging stations, locally known as SPKLUs, reached 332 units, and the number of public electric vehicle battery swap stations (SPBKLU) touched 369 units across Indonesia, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources noted.

The government said that the provision of charging stations is part of efforts to encourage domestic energy independence by reducing dependence on fuel oil imports.

According to Radhi, the readiness of charging stations is still inadequate because their number is still small and coverage limited.

He opined that the right step to encourage an increase in the number of EV charging infrastructures is to provide conveniences and incentives to investors so that they invest in charging station construction projects in Indonesia.

Currently, several electric car manufacturers are providing home charging packages for every electric car purchase. He deemed the business strategy as a good effort because it could accelerate the creation of an electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government has emphasized its readiness to enter the electric vehicle era through Presidential Regulation Number 55 of 2019 regarding the use of battery-based electric vehicles for road transportation.

Under the electric vehicle road map, the government is targeting to put 2 million electric vehicles on the country's roads by 2025.

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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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