Indonesia is ready to become a major player in the electric car industry, noted the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir.
Erick confirmed that he had ordered PT PLN (Persero) to improve services to the community, as well as changing its business strategy after the pandemic.
“PLN has been on track and has participated in the BUMN consortium for the manufacture of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in collaboration with companies from South Korea and China,” he said during a trial of electric cars and checking the readiness of electric vehicle charging stations in Bali.
Furthermore, Erick said that his team will explore cooperation with Tesla, an electric car manufacturer from the United States, in February.
The belief that Indonesia will be able to become a major player in the electric car industry is partly based on Indonesia’s plentiful natural resources. As one of the countries with the largest nickel resources, Indonesia can become a major producer of car battery resources.
Erick announced that the PLN team had conducted trials driving an electric car from Jakarta to Bali. The result is that using fuel oil (BBM) requires a cost of Rp 1.1 million while using an electric car is only Rp200,000.
Furthermore, electric cars will be able to reduce Indonesia’s fuel imports and bring benefits to the environment which’s in line with the government’s mission to promote sustainable economic development.
“Currently, we import 1.5 million barrels per day of fuel or the equivalent of 200 trillion barrels per year. Electric cars are a solution to reducing the movement of foreign exchange abroad,” he explained.
“The emission produced is lower than vehicles that use fuel oil, so it will reduce air pollution and noise pollution. PLN even provides a 30 percent discount for charging at night,” he said.
Image credits Oto.Detik