In Thailand, Bangkok will switch its entire fleet of public buses to electric vehicles over the next three years. Similar efforts are also underway in Indonesia and Vietnam. Efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases have begun in earnest in Southeast Asia, where the impact of climate change is being felt strongly in floods and droughts caused by abnormal weather.
Bangkok Mass Transit Authority plans to eliminate its buses that use fossil fuels in phases. According to state-run media, the authority will replace all of them with 3,200 electric buses by 2025.
In Indonesia, 1,000 electric vehicles will be introduced in Jakarta’s Transjakarta public bus system by the end of 2023, with a further plan to expand the number to 3,000 by 2025.
Such efforts to introduce electric vehicles in public transportation systems are being stepped up as Southeast Asian countries feel the pressure to decarbonise amid increased environmental awareness around the world.
Also behind the moves is an increased perception that environmental business can be a new economic driver. They are thus competing to lure plants of electric vehicle makers based in Japan, the US, Europe, China, South Korea and elsewhere.
The Thai government has set a target of expanding the proportion of electric vehicles among new cars by 2030 and introduced tax incentives for electric vehicle makers.
Indonesia has introduced tax breaks for electric vehicle-related companies. They include manufacturers of batteries, for which the country has rich nonferrous resources such as nickel.
In Vietnam, a local company has begun preparing to manufacture electric buses. VinFast, affiliated with Vingroup, the largest conglomerate in Vietnam, in late October obtained a total of US$135 million from an investment fund set up by the Asian Development Bank and others to promote efforts to combat climate change. VinFast plans to use the money for facilities to manufacture electric buses and charging equipment.
The hurdles for electrifying public buses are lower than those for passenger vehicles because buses run on fixed routes, making it easy to predict when they need to be charged and therefore requiring fewer charging stations.
“They have the aim of raising awareness for introducing electric vehicles by constructing an EV ecosystem in the public transportation system, ahead of efforts to build a system for passenger vehicles, to set an example,” said Kenichi Shimomura, head of the Asia Japan Desk at the Germany consultancy Roland Berger.
Public bus systems are not the only area where decarbonisation efforts are underway in Southeast Asia.
SMRT, a major public transportation operator in Singapore, has adopted a next-generation operating system for urban rail from Thales, a French electronic equipment maker. The system reduces energy consumption by optimising trains’ acceleration, coasting and braking for smooth and efficient rides.
The Malaysian government is encouraging a shift to means of transportation that emit fewer greenhouse gases. In September, it announced a programme aimed at increasing the share of public transportation in urban areas to 50% by 2040, from 20% in 2018.
Efforts for electrification are also underway for sea and river transportation. In Thailand, an electric passenger boat began regular operations on a Bangkok canal in late February. The boat, which seats about 40 passengers, is equipped with rooftop solar panels that can recharge the batteries in 90 to 120 minutes.
Prices of diesel and gasoline have remained high since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. If the use of renewable energy increases significantly in Southeast Asia, further lowering the cost of electricity compared to other energy sources, and the shift to electric in public transportation systems advances further, decarbonisation may dramatically accelerate across the region.