Indonesian motorcycle sales fell drastically by 43.57 percent in 2020 compared a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic - Photo by President Office

JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) – Indonesian government prepares the regulations related to electric motorbike, which can save around Rp798 trillion (US$55.03 billion) of imported fuel oil, said Indonesian president on Monday (01/14).

President Joko Widodo has urged his minister to complete the regulation in the near time. He believed, the development of electric vehicles could give a double impact for Indonesia through the use of domestic components.
On November 2018, Indonesia has produced domestic electric motorized vehicles named Gesit (Garansindo Electric Scooter ITS) starting 2019. Gesits is the result of a collaboration between local automotive company Garansindo Group and the 10 November Institute of Technology in Surabaya.
The electric motorbikes has been prepared since two years ago. In addition to headlamps and shock breakers, all components of Gesits are domestic products with a percentage reaching 89 percent.
The production will take place at the PT Wika Industri dan Konstruksi factory. The temporary target is 60 thousand units per year.
On the other hand, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan hopes that Indonesia can export electric cars to Australia and Africa in the future. He believes that the national electric vehicle industry continue to grow and ready to operate in the next four to five years.

Beside produce electric motorbikes, Indonesia also has planned to produce electric car, as part of government move to boost the use of green energy utilization in the country and reduce gas emissions. The official draft of presidential decree on electric car now waiting approval from Widodo.

Since early of 2018, the government has announced to produce presidential decree that will pave the way for the development of the electric car in the country. Many developed countries are starting to leave the sale of hydrocarbon-fueled cars and switch to electricity.

The Government of Britain and France have even made bold steps to prohibit non-electric vehicle sales for highways starting 2040. The government also drafting a regulation that will slash the luxury goods sales tax and import duty of electric car, said Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto on Feb. 26.

The government, he stated, to slash the luxury tax to 0 percent and import duty to 5.0 percent and its expect will be finalized within one month.

Indonesia is still far behind in the development of the electric cars. Industry players have blamed lack of infrastructure support, such as charging points or stations, which discouraged car makers to produce electric cars.

Some industry players also demand the government to provide incentives in order to lure car makers to produce electric cars. Such incentives are needed to encourage car makers to produce electric cars and catch up with other countries.

Globally, China has taken the lead in developing electric cars. Goldman Sachs has said that China is expected to supply 60 percent of the world’s electric vehicles by 2030, up from 45 percent in 2016.

Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto said the government targets that by 2025, around 20 percent of cars produced in Indonesia will be low carbon emission vehicles, including electric cars.

Many developed countries are starting to leave the sale of hydrocarbon-fueled cars and switch to electricity. The Government of Britain and France have even made bold steps to prohibit non-electric vehicle sales for highways starting 2040. 

In 2017, the automotive industry contributed to the national economy of 10.16 percent and was able to absorb direct employment of around 350 thousand people and indirect labor of 1.2 million people.

US$1: Rp14,500

Written by Staff Editor, Email: theinsiderstories@gmail.com

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