Jakarta. The Industry Ministry is partnering up with ride-hailing companies Gojek Indonesia and Grab Indonesia on a project testing electric motorbikes.
The test aims to find out the level of energy efficiency that can be achieved using electric vehicles and mobile battery-sharing.
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan’s largest public management organization, is also involved in the project.
“This electrified vehicle test is intended not only to introduce electric vehicles to the local market but also to bolster that market’s growth as a base for developing the local electric vehicle industry,” Harjanto, the director general of metal, machine, transportation and electronics industry at the ministry said on Wednesday.
Harjanto said they chose Gojek and Grab because both companies have millions of active users and thousands of drivers.
Ryan Eka Permana, Gojek’s head of public policy research and advocacy, said the first phase of the test began in July in Jakarta and will finish by the end of August.
“We fully support the government’s effort to accelerate the use of electric vehicles in Indonesia,” Ryan said.
As many as 300 electric bikes were used in the test, along with 1,000 battery units, forty battery exchange stations and four micro electric cars.
The project also looks into how battery sharing works in business-to-consumer and business-to-business settings.
Indonesia is making a concerted push for electric vehicles to realize its Industry 4.0 roadmap target of becoming a production base for internal combustion engine vehicles and electrified vehicles for domestic and international markets by 2030.
A separate study on electrified vehicles had already looked into technical performance, customer acceptance and their industrial and social impact. The results will be submitted as national policy recommendations.
That study was a collaboration between the Indonesia Motorbike Industry Association, Bandung Institute of Technology, Udayana University, University of Indonesia, and the Industry Ministry’s Grand Assembly of Technical Supplies and Goods division.
