Without Govt Support, Indonesia Will Again Become Foreign Car Market

Indonesia does not have a road map for industrial development and national electric vehicle research. In fact, these regulations and road maps are urgently needed for downstream research and development of the national electric vehicle industry.

KOMPAS/NINA SUSILO

Vice President Jusuf Kalla (second right) inspects an electric scooter motorcycle made by ITS at the 7th Indonesia EBTKE Conference and Exhibition 2018 in Jakarta on Wednesday (29/8/2018). According to Kalla, electric vehicles need to be supported by charging facilities at gas stations and must be able to compete with fossil-fuel-driven vehicles. Development of the electric motorcycle, named Gesits, is to be expedited with a regulation to support domestic electric vehicle research in the national automotive industry. However, no draft has been published so far for the presidential regulation on the acceleration of national electric vehicles.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Without the government’s support and acceleration in the development of the national electric vehicle industry, Indonesia may again become a market of foreign car manufacturers.

This conclusion was drawn from Kompas\' observations, including opinions from various circles obtained up to Thursday (30/8/2018). Developing the electric vehicle industry could actually provide Indonesia with the opportunity to become a leader in the automotive industry in its own country.

Unlike fossil fuel vehicle technology, which is controlled by foreigners, technology of electric vehicles has been mastered by national engineers, including those related to research on their development.

However, until now, there has been no real alignment with the national electric vehicle industry. The drafting of a presidential regulation on the acceleration of national electric vehicles, which has been ongoing for a year, is not yet complete.

Indonesia also does not have a road map for industrial development and national electric vehicle research. In fact, these regulations and road maps are urgently needed for downstream research and development of the national electric vehicle industry.

This condition is quite worrying. If it is too late to build a domestic industry on a massive scale, Indonesia will be left behind other countries that are currently also aggressively developing their own electric vehicles. As a result, Indonesia can again become a market of foreign cars, like in today’s fossil fuel vehicle market.

Such indications have begun to appear as seen in the rapid inflow of Chinese electric vehicles to Indonesia. China\'s electric vehicles are popular because importers are given the freedom to make their own vehicle brands.

PT Wim Motor, based in Gresik, East Java, for example, imports all electric motorcycle components from China and assembles them in Indonesia. The motorcycle is named Wim Motor and is now widely marketed in Agats, Papua.

The sales and marketing director of PT Wim Motor, Wenson, said every year the company sold about 520 electric motorcycles in Agats. The company has been marketing the electric motorcycles in Agats since 2009. Wim Motor only needs to supply the motorcycle parts without having to send experts to Agats.

"So far there have not been any complaints regarding the motorbikes that we sell in Agats. We have not sent any technicians there. As far as we know, residents in Agats can handle it themselves if there is damage to the motorbike," he said.

Besides Wim Motor, PT Bakrie Autoparts also cooperates with a Chinese company. The company teamed up with Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturer Build Your Dream (BYD) to develop the electric bus industry in Indonesia. The president director of Bakrie Autoparts, Dino A Riyandi, said BYD was willing to transfer its technology by producing the batteries in Indonesia.

German electric motorcycle technology has also been adopted by domestic electric motorcycle manufacturer Viar. The corporate manager of Viar, Deden Gunawan, said the electric motorcycles produced by the company used a German-made electric motor, Bosch, which was produced in China. Since 2017, Viar has produced around 500 electric motorcycles per month.

(ADY/BKY/ILO/MDN)