Several companies have expressed their readiness to develop and operate electric vehicles although the government has not yet completed a regulation that would provide incentives for their development and adoption.
PT Bakrie & Brothers has announced that it would soon launch an electric bus, produced in cooperation with Chinese automaker Build Your Dreams Auto (BYD).
Bakrie and Brothers spokesman Bayu Nimpuno said in Jakarta on Sunday the company would import completely built up (CBU) vehicles from China, while “the company is preparing its own electric vehicles produced domestically”.
“We plan to sell [the buses] to provincial governments for city-based public transportation,” Buyu said as reported by kontan.co.id.
Meanwhile, BMW Group Indonesia vice president of corporate communication Jodie O’tania said BMW Indonesia had also expressed its readiness to develop a range of low-emission vehicles. He added that since 2014, BMW had introduced the i8 Coupe and i8 Roadster electric cars in Indonesia.
“We want to see the details of the regulations [on electric cars],” Jodie said, adding that learning from BMW’s experience in other countries, it was difficult to begin introducing fully electric vehicles and that many countries started with plug-in hybrid vehicles.
“If people have started to enjoy the economic value and environmental benefits, they will start to eye [fully] electric cars.”
PT Blue Bird head of investor relations Michael Tene also said the company was still waiting for the government to issue a regulation on electric vehicles. “To use electric cars, Blue Bird, as a company that abides by the law, will wait for the government’s regulation,” he added. (bbn)
