FIVE REASONS WHY INDONESIA’S EV PLAN IS POWERLESS Duncan Graham
To an Indonesian conservationist all lights look green.
The wondrous 16,000-island archipelago has nickel needed for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Specialist factories are planned using Australian lithium.
President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo wants E-power to cut pollution and the Republic’s dependence on imported fossil fuels. Government-subsidised E-bikes are already in showrooms plus a few cars.
It seems the E-age has arrived. Not so. Missing is the determination to transform using subsidies and laws that are enforced.
For business it's the old dilemma - build it and they'll come, or wait till they come and then start construction. Either way Indonesia’s way behind.
First the price: The Honda Beat four-stroke motorcycle is the nation’s top seller capturing more than 30 per cent of the market. It retails around Rp 18 million ($1,160) and often bought on terms.
The company's EM1 E bike price starts at Rp 40 million ($2,600), more than double its gas-powered mate. For that money, you'd need something that signs, dances and goes twice the distance. This doesn't.
The government is offering a Rp seven million ($450) subsidy for selected buyers Four months ago it had received only 2,429 applications.
The cheapest conventional four-wheeler is the low-powered Daihatsu Ayla - Rp 147 million ($9,500). The box-on-wheels Wuling Air E-car (too small and ugly for the status-conscious) sells for Rp 243 million ($16,000).
There are more than 125 million gas-powered motorbikes in Indonesia, a nation of 275 million people. In 2022 sales reached 5.2 million units. Turning this around will be a monster task.
Second is range: Cut manufacturers’ quotes by a third. The factory figures may be accurate for a 50kg rider heading downhill with a tailwind. But reverse these conditions and revise expectations for real-world usage.
Most 110 cc bikes have a four-litre tank giving a range of above 200 km. The EM1 can just make it to 40 km provided all stars are aligned.
The Ayla can go 300 km with a load; the Air might make 200 km with a slim teen behind the wheel.
Third - top up. Java has enough government-owned Pertamina stations to satisfy careful riders though queues are often long.
Although the trade is supposed to be gelap (illegal), roadside re-sellers of petrol in bottles are commonplace. The price is higher but the convenience is ideal.
A dead E-vehicle on an isolated road is the stuff of horror movies. Your correspondent has just completed a 3,500 km E-car drive across Australia's arid Nullarbor (no tree) Plain.
Planning had to be perfect: Headwinds? Stab keyboard, read data. We'll get there only if acceleration is smooth and the speed held below 90 kph. Boring, though safer for kangaroos and emus.
Getting in the car and going off without thinking is not the E-way.
Jakarta has ordered the state power monopoly PLN to build 6,318 EV charging points and 10,000 battery swap stations by 2025. How these will function is a puzzle: Other countries have E-bike standards but Indonesia is a wild market with racks of Chinese knock-ups, most with different batteries
Till then it's plugging into domestic wall sockets. Waiting up to nine hours is no problem if overnighting at home or hotel - but a pain at midday and appointments to keep.
Fourth - service. I’ve done more than 9,000 km on East Java roads in the past two years using a Pedelec (pedal electric), the type common in Singapore and Western European nations, used to commute and deliver goods in urban areas. Should the battery die just pedal harder - and lose more weight.
A replacement (battery, not rider) costs Rp 2.5 million ($162) - a third of the price of bike and battery. Had that money gone on gas for a motorbike I’d have covered 10,000 km. That’s a fact the e-bike pushers aren’t keen to announce.
Dud power cells can be repaired- though only by an electrician who understands the complex new technology. My guy is a dab with TV sets but after four failures and a patchwork of solder burns, the fault eludes.
Workshops repairing four-stroke bikes with staff often trained by manufacturers are commonplace. Then there’s the self-taught young guys who get their mates' coughing beasts purring again using hairpins.
Final fifth - safety. E-bikes whisper and are swifter, so often not heard or distance misjudged by pedestrians. My city has dedicated bike lanes clearly marked.
Street traders grab these spaces to sell noodles. The signs say that's not allowed, but who cares? Indonesia is the land of the broken rule. Getting to become Southeast Asia's Netherlands, the world’s most bike-friendly country, will be a long and rough ride.
Duncan Graham has a MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives in East Java.
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