Jakarta (ANTARA) - Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has expressed support for efforts to accelerate the transition from fossil fuel vehicles to electric vehicles, starting from motorcycles.

The efforts are in line with the target of putting two million electric motorcycles on Indonesia’s roads by 2025.

"The number of motorcycle users in Indonesia is around 133 million. There are 5 million requests coming in one year; the number even reached 10 million before the pandemic. The market is huge, and this can become a game changer to accelerate the transition," Sumadi said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Many countries have agreed to reduce emission levels by 29 percent by 2030 and reach zero emissions by 2060, the minister noted.

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To achieve the target, the minister said he believes an equilibrium (a new balance point) can be achieved through synergy and collaboration among the government, universities, industry players, and the community.

According to the minister, there are three keys to achieving the transition: ensuring the electric motorcycle's battery quality, increasing the number of charging stations or providing easy access to battery swap stations, and ensuring the quality of the engine of electric vehicles.

The increasing number of electric motorcycle users could bring benefits to the environment and is expected to reduce fuel energy subsidies, which have reached Rp502 trillion, Sumadi observed.

"We hope that this subsidy will decrease along with the increasing number of electric vehicle users. We can use the money from fuel subsidies to build this nation,” the minister remarked.

The government has encouraged the acceleration of the transition through regulations, research at universities, and industry players to carry out mass production of electric vehicles of good quality at more economical prices, he informed.

"We encourage the Type Test Registration Certificate (SRUT) for free to provide convenience. Currently, there are about 28 thousand SRUTs of electric vehicles that we have completed," he said.

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Translator: Adimas Raditya F P, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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