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ommemorating National Awakening Day on Monday, Research and Technology State Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and Yogyakarta Mayor Haryadi Suyuti jointly launched the operational tryout of an electric minibus.

Given the brand of Hevina, the electric minibus was the product of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). The launching ceremony was conducted at the city's Taman Pintar science park in downtown Yogyakarta.

'Indonesia has been capable of producing electric cars. What we have not yet been capable of is creating a battery that is small in size but big in capacity,' Gusti said in his remarks at the launch ceremony.

As a research and development institution, he said LIPI has since 1994 been developing electric cars. In 2011, his ministry supported LIPI to develop an electric minibus that was expected to be a means of mass transportation in the future.

'I hope the government will have the will to push the production of electric cars, for example by giving tax reductions, because these cars do not produce the polluting CO2,' he said, adding that in Jakarta alone, 40 percent of air pollution came from motorized vehicles.

Gusti also said that apart from being environmentally friendly, an electric minibus could be used for public transport and help reduce traffic jams in big cities.

Sultan concurred, saying that the minibus hopefully would offer a solution for the worsening traffic congestion in Yogyakarta. 'There have been some 300 additional cars and 6,000 additional motorcycles monthly here,' he said.

He also expressed hope that the tryout of the electric minibus in Yogyakarta would give an impetus to the national electric car production program.

The minibus, according to Sultan, will serve tourists visiting sites around Yogyakarta Palace. Passengers will depart from Taman Pintar, which serves as the battery charging point.

The launching was marked with the opening of the bus curtains. Gusti, Sultan and Haryadi then got into the bus, which has the capacity of transporting 12 passengers, for a test ride taking the route of Taman Pintar ' Maliboro ' Taman Pintar.

Abdul Hapid of LIPI's Mechatronics and Electric Power Research Center said that the research for creating Hevina had cost Rp 1.8 billion (US$184,000). 'But we do not yet know the price of a unit of the minibus for mass production,' he said.

The minibus, he added, can run at a speed of 100 kilometers (km) per hour and is capable of traveling a distance of 150 km.

He also said that electric vehicles were the best solution for the world amid an oil crisis. They are more economical than fossil-fueled vehicles. An electric bus, he said, would only need Rp 44,800 for a distance of 85 kmss. A gasoline-fueled one, on the other hand, would need up to Rp 95,625 to go the same distance.