Indonesia’s state power provider to work with e-car manufacturers

Indonesia's state-owned electricity company PLN, which has a monopoly in electricity sales, has signed an agreement with Hyundai and China's car manufacturer Wuling - both of which produce in the country - on electricity purchase prices for charging e-cars and technical access via an app. The chemical manufacturer of electric motorcycles, Gresik, and the motorcycle taxi provider Grab are also part of the agreement. Details were not disclosed.

PLN is thus following the government's plan to promote electromobility. But so far there are only a few electric cars on Indonesia's roads. There are currently 5,000 public charging stations, but according to the PLN, 31,000 charging stations have to be installed just to serve the needs of public transport. For most car buyers, electric cars are too expensive. In view of the foreign trade balance, however, the government will not allow their imports in large numbers.

Therefore, a battery production is to be settled. To this end, three state corporations have founded a battery alliance. The government is trying to get car companies all over the world to get involved in the archipelago. Most recently there were talks with Tesla.

However, electromobility should by no means serve to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, because e-cars would predominantly have to be fueled with electricity from coal. Instead, the aim is to reduce imports of gasoline and diesel, which have to be imported in ever larger quantities due to a lack of refinery capacities.