Several large companies have begun building electric vehicle factories.

After years of announcing plans, some major companies have begun to build electric vehicle (EV) factories. They spend trillions of rupiah to set up production facilities for electric motorcycles, buses and trucks, which are being touted as the transportation of the future.

Electrum is a joint venture between GoTo Gojek Tokopedia and TBS Energi Utama, which began construction of a motorcycle factory this month on three hectares of land in Cikarang, West Java. The factory’s initial production capacity is 250,000 electric motorcycles per year, with plans to increase it to one million in the second phase. Electrum motorbikes will be available for sale to the public and will also be integrated into Gojek’s online motorcycle transportation fleet.

VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas is another company entering this field. It is building an electric bus factory in Magelang, Central Java, which will commence operations in October. The Bakrie Group subsidiary has been able to establish the factory after securing capital on the Indonesia Stock Exchange last month. VKTR will also manufacture electric trucks targeting the mining, plantation, and logistics companies market.

As is often the case in other business sectors, the electric vehicle industry will be controlled by conglomerates and public officials. Electrum, for example, is often associated with Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan. This is because Luhut is the founder of Toba Bara Sejahtera, a coal company that has changed its name to TBS Energi Utama. Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko founded a bus factory under the banner of Mobil Anak Bangsa.

In addition to the Bakrie Group, Indika Energy is another big company entering this sector by building electric motorcycle and bus production facilities. In the near future, another business group also plans to set up an electric car factory. Behind those Indonesian conglomerates are a series of foreign companies, particularly from China, as technology owners. They collaborate to build a new industry, which the government has recently encouraged through various incentives and subsidies

Dear respected readers, this week we report on the personalities and businesses that are building the new electric vehicle industry. This reportage includes the growth of the vehicle electric conversion business and reports on the irony of incentive and subsidy programs being ignored by the public.

Happy reading.

Ferry Firmansyah
Managing Editor

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