Indonesia has a rich vested interest in the success of the electric vehicle revolution. It’s still early days for the adoption of EVs in Indonesia, but the potential for positive impact on the economy and environment is huge. The country holds nearly a quarter of the world’s nickel reserves.
The government is pushing for an expansion of battery manufacturing and discouraging the export of Nickel ore. Tesla has even been in talks to get involved wherever it can in the value chain.
By 2025, the Indonesian government wants electric vehicles to make up 20 per cent of all domestic production (400,000 cars and 160,000 motorbikes).
According to the Indonesian ministry of industry, there are 15 domestic electric motorbike manufacturers with a production capacity of up to 877,000 bikes annually. The population is keen to deal with their environmental issues by going electric. Over 70% of them want to own an electric vehicle.
One of the big stumbling blocks to this plan may be the overwhelming dominance of Japanese carmakers – Toyota, Daihatsu, Honda and Suzuki – who appear to be quite reluctant to make anything more electric than a mild HEV – that still runs on petrol. Likewise, the majority of motorbikes are also made by Japanese companies.
Transjakarta plans to transform its bus fleet to electric within 7 years – that means 14, electric buses on the roads. Over the next 10 years, PLN is planning to build 31,00 new EV charging stations.
Major automotive players such as Toyota and Hyundai are already in talks with authorities to start their EV and hybrid manufacturing capabilities, while LG Chem has also shown interest in setting up an EV battery manufacturing plant to boost the market.
Australia is surrounded by heavily populated energetic countries with big plans to electric. We would do well to pay close attention to our neighbours’ progress as we all head for the S curve of technology disruption.
David Waterworth is a researcher and writer, a retired school teacher who continues to provoke thought through his writing. He divides his time between looking after his grandchildren and trying to make sure they have a planet to live on. He is long on Tesla.