Electric Vehicle For Perintis Transportation, Ministry Of Transportation: Many Must Be Considered

Bus Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Land Transportation revealed that there is still much to be considered for using electric vehicles as pioneer transportation.

Director of Road Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation, Suharto explained that using electric vehicles as pioneer transportation must be supported by Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (SPKLU) and charging stations.

Meanwhile, continued Suharto, not all areas that pioneer transportation passes are electrified. With this condition, he said, it is very difficult to use electric vehicles.

"This means that we will serve it the next step, unless there is already electricity there, everything is left with transportation that doesn't exist, it can be used for electric vehicles," he said in a discussion, at the Ministry of Transportation, Tuesday, February 7.

Regarding the electric vehicle, Suharto said, many parties also proposed using electric buses for the Balikpapan route to the capital city of Nusantara (IKN). Where the distance is 40 kilometers (km).

However, Suharto said, this is difficult to implement. Given that there is no supporting infrastructure in this case SPKLU or charging station in the area.

Suharto said that his current concern is what if the electric bus broke down. Meanwhile, the workshops in the area have not been equipped with knowledge about electric vehicles.

"I tell you who will prepare the charging station? What if it goes down? Because there is electric technology, not all workshops can understand. What if it strikes? This means that there is a lot to consider when pioneer transportation will use electric buses," he explained.

Not only that, Suharto also said that the heavy terrain carried out by pioneering transportation so far also did not fit electric vehicles. For example, said Suharto, pioneer land squad often faces flood conditions, where roads that will be passed are submerged in water.

Not to mention we are preparing a solution to conditions that are severe. What if flooded? Soaking in water, I'm afraid that everything will be electrocuted. Even if not, it will definitely be a short circuit and strike. If it has broken down, the purpose of pioneering services has not been achieved. Even though it's something that is at the top but if the goal is not achieved, what to do," he said.

Therefore, Suharto said, currently his party is still prioritizing the pioneer transportation based on fuel oil (BBM) or fossil fuels.

"That's why the current stage is pioneering transportation using fossil transportation (fuel), once it's commercial, then we will consider electric transportation while we wait for the charging station," he explained.