VIETNAM
Vietnam has similar goals in its public transport fleets. The first being all new or replacement buses run on clean energy by this year, 2025. The same goal is set for its taxis with the target year of 2030. Overall, the country aims to have 100 per cent of its buses and taxis run on electricity or clean energy by 2050 and in turn, cut down carbon emissions by 226 million tonnes. With only 3 per cent of Vietnam’ s current fleet running on electricity, the country will have to make stronger measures to achieve its goals.
Positively, VinBus reported that majority( 89 per cent) of Vietnam’ s commuters use electric buses while only 25-30 per cent of commuters use the fuel-powered buses. A driving force in the increase of use of electric buses is its commute route. The electric bus route connects Vietnam’ s residential areas to its corresponding city centres, encouraging everyday use from citizens.
INDONESIA
In Indonesia, its Ministry of Transportation( MoT) set several targets to achieve for the improvement of the archipelago’ s air quality. The first of these targets is for its urban public transportation fleets to be 90 per cent electrified by 2030 and completely electric by 2040. Complete electrification of all public transport, including the microbus( angkot) is slated to be completed by 2045.
Though the Indonesian government has set lofty goals, uncertainty remains regarding its implementation. As of July 2024, only 124 electric buses have been recorded to be in operation across three cities in Indonesia. Transjakarta, one of Indonesia’ s bus systems, currently has a fleet of 4,775 low-entry electric buses with 244 routes across Jakarta.
MALAYSIA
Nearby in Malaysia, ASEAN named the nation as the“ leading nation in the region” in terms of energy transition. Chinese EV maker FOTON provided 46 electric buses to the country’ s public transportation fleet. These 46 buses operated between Johor Bahru and next-door neighbour Singapore. In the heritage city of Taiping, electric buses from Japan keep the“ Taiping Heritage Trail” moving throughout 40 tourist attractions.
Meanwhile, Digital Nasional Berhad( DNB), Ericsson, and eMooVit Technology conducted a pilot test of a joint collaboration on 5G-powered autonomous electric buses last October 2024.
German automaker Volvo introduced its BZL- GML Eco Range, a premium-class city bus assembled locally in Malaysia. Commuters can catch the low-floor, two-door electric bus on the Desa Tasik-LRT Bandar Tasik Selatan Route. The introduction of these premium buses coincides with the electrification of Malaysia’ s Rapid Bus fleet. State transport company Prasarana acquired 250 electric buses last year to add to its current fleet. Prasarana aims to add over 1,000 electric bus units to its fleet over the next 5 years and completely electrify by 2037.
Despite these developments, transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook announced at a press conference that there were no“ immediate plans” to implement electric buses under the BAS. MY programme.
“ If we were to use electric buses, the purchase costs would be significantly higher. For now, we are still using Euro 5 diesel buses, which are environmentally friendly,” he said.
42 ISSUE 52 APRIL 2025 / WWW. AFMA. ORG. AU