Kendari City Government Wants to Make EVs Operational Vehicles for Civil Servants

KatadataOTO – The Kendari City Government (Pemkot), Southeast Sulawesi Province (Sultra), plans to make electric cars the operational vehicles for the state civil apparatus (ASN). The presence of these facilities is believed to be able to save the budget.

Significantly, the savings could reach more than 30 percent compared to conventional vehicles. This is because the cars no longer use fuel oil (BBM), making operations more affordable.

"We will try to use this product in the future. We will discuss it first with the Mayor," said Sudirman, Deputy Mayor of Kendari.

According to him, using this power source can make the budget more efficient. Similarly, maintenance and operational costs that have been allocated by the local government can be reduced.

Photo : KatadataOTO

"Because it uses electricity, it could save more than 70 percent of the cost of fuel. So, a single one-hour charge is enough to be used for a week," he said.

He said this effort is in line with the government's policy of budget savings (efficiency).

Sudirman gave an example that so far, the fuel cost for ASN in the Kendari City Government reaches Rp 300 million to Rp 500 million in one year. However, with electric vehicle products, this could cut costs by Rp 100 million.

"Once they are used by our employees and ASN, they can be charged at the office," he added.

It should be noted that since 2022, the government has been pushing for official vehicles in various institutions to switch to EVs. This aims to accelerate development in the automotive sector, particularly electrification.

One province that has already done this is the Bali provincial government. The Governor and Deputy Governor have already made electric vehicles their daily mode of transportation.

Photo : Courtesy

The car is equipped with a BYD Blade Battery (LFP) with a capacity of 82.56 kWh. This capacity is sufficient for the vehicle to travel up to 580 km on a single charge.

The stored power is used to drive an electric motor capable of producing 532 hp and 670 Nm of torque. Thanks to this, the car can accelerate from 0-100 km per hour in 3.8 seconds.