Electric or petrol car: what does it really cost to own in Indonesia?

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EV purchase incentives (PPN DTP + 0% import duty + PPnBM relief): NOW ENDED. All three incentives — the 10% PPN Ditanggung Pemerintah (government-borne VAT), the 0% import duty on CBU imports, and the PPnBM (luxury-tax) relief — officially ended on 31 December 2025 and were not automatically extended for 2026. The direct result: EV sticker prices rose in January 2026 (the Wuling Air ev and BinguoEV, for example, both went up). The government has signalled that future support will be steered towards locally built EVs, but as of 1 July 2026 no 2026 cash purchase subsidy has been officially confirmed. Non-cash perks remain (lower annual vehicle tax/PKB, exemption from Jakarta's odd–even traffic restrictions), but those are not purchase subsidies and we do not count them as cash. The totals above use real 2026 prices after the incentives ended and add an incentive of Rp0. The expired PPN DTP is shown for context only. Sources: detik Oto / Kompas Otomotif / AstraOtoshop / pajak.go.id (PMK 12/2025), as of 1 July 2026. Always check the latest rules before you buy.

Depreciation is the most honest deciding factor: on energy cost, the electric car wins clearly — charging at home on PLN tariffs is far cheaper per kilometre than fuel. But the 5-year total is not an outright EV win, for two honest reasons: (1) the purchase incentives (PPN DTP + 0% import duty + PPnBM) ended on 31 December 2025, so EV purchase prices rose in 2026, and (2) used EVs in Indonesia depreciate very steeply — auction prices drop 35–45% in the first year and about 50% within 3–4 years (a 2022 Wuling Air ev that was Rp214 million new is now ~Rp95 million used). The Avanza, Xenia, Brio and Innova, by contrast, have legendary resale value. That is why we deliberately set the BEV depreciation curve low — that is today's market reality. Maintenance and insurance use standard per-drivetrain values (not sourced Indonesia-specific figures), which if anything favours the EV on maintenance — yet the verdict still leans towards the petrol/hybrid car. Sources: detik Oto / Kompas Otomotif / Gridoto (used-EV depreciation), as of 1 July 2026.