PT PLN offers 30 percent discount to electric vehicle owners

President Joko Widodo (right) reviewed Indonesia’s first ultra-fast electric vehicle charging station on March 26, 2022. ANTARA/HO-PLN/uyu

Thus, they only need to pay Rp1,100 per kilowatt per hour (kWh) out of the normal tariff of Rp1,450 per kWh,

Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned electricity provider PT PLN (Persero) is offering a 30-percent discount to electric vehicle owners who charge their vehicles using home-charging facilities from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

"Thus, they only need to pay Rp1,100 per kilowatt per hour (kWh) out of the normal tariff of Rp1,450 per kWh," President Director of PT PLN (Persero), Darmawan Prasodjo, informed during a hearing with Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) here on Monday.

He said that the company is offering the discount as part of efforts to increase electricity consumption overnight since the utilization of power plants is not optimal at night due to a decline in community and industrial activities.

In addition, the discount provision is also aimed at encouraging the development of the electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia.

Furthermore, the enterprise is trying to digitize home-charging services. Thus, PLN customers who buy electric vehicles will also get one package for home-charging.

The facility will be directly connected to a server owned by PLN through optical Internet.

“Thus, for anyone who has bought an electric vehicle, please report it to PLN. We will immediately connect your home-charging facility to the server and give you a discount," the president director stated.

This is because the electricity bill for household consumption is different from the bill for home-charging equipment, he added.

Furthermore, the latest models of electric cars can cover a distance of 350–370 kilometers (km) once fully charged, he noted.

Meanwhile, the average distance covered by the vehicles inside a city is only 80–100 km per day. Hence, the charging of the vehicle is being mostly done at home, not at electric vehicle charging stations (SPKLU).

"Thus, since the charging usually takes five hours per day and we give electricity discounts from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the energy cost spent for operating the vehicle will become very cheap," Prasodjo added.