Four forks in Indonesia’s path to 100% motorbike electrification

A halfway goal for Indonesia to try and meet its carbon neutrality target by 2060 is to get 13 million electric two-wheelers on the road by 2030. Currently at under 5,500 units, that’s a long long way away—especially given all the tough decisions that come first

Indonesians rely on motorbikes for mobility. There were about 115 million on the road in 2021, compared to 15.8 million passenger cars

But to meet Indonesia’s carbon neutrality goals by 2060, they’ll all probably need to be electrified in the coming years

Now, electrifying two-wheelers is comparatively easier—E2Ws are expected to lead the shift away from combustion engines

It’s 2022, but the debate still revolves around fundamentals like projected targets, charging infrastructure, and local tech capabilities

Eagle-eyed observers would have seen something changing on the streets of Indonesian cities. Electric motorbikes are starting to show up.

A handful of Electrum-branded e-motorbikes are in circulation now. Electrum is the joint venture company ride-hailing giant Gojek launched last year, together with one of Indonesia’s largest energy companies, TBS Energi. It was quite a surprise announcement. The company plans to enter electric two-wheeler (E2W) manufacturing, charging infrastructure development, and E2W financing.

Right now, Electrum’s actual bikes, as well as the battery swapping system they come with, are provided by a Taiwanese startup called Gogoro. Founded in 2011, Gogoro managed to scale its battery swapping technology in Taiwan to the point where it’s “doing about 330,000 battery swaps per day,” a company spokesperson told The Ken.

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Nadine Freischlad

Nadine is based in Indonesia. She covers Southeast Asia's super apps, the changing nature of work and employment, and other structural shifts happening as a result of digital disruption.

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