Deliberations over the presidential regulation on accelerated development of national electric vehicles should focus on aligning research to the industry. However, this expectation requires regulations that fully support the national electric vehicle industry.
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Deliberations over the presidential regulation on accelerated development of national electric vehicles should focus on aligning research to the industry. However, this expectation requires regulations that fully support the national electric vehicle industry.
Developing a prototype electric vehicle from local research is necessary so that Indonesia can compete with other countries in promoting electric vehicles. Researching battery cell production is an important step in electric vehicle development, as the battery accounts for almost half of manufacturing costs for electric vehicles.
The Surakarta Sebelas Maret University (UNS) has long been researching the production of electric vehicle batteries. Backed by the Research, Technology and Higher Education Minsitry and PT Pertamina, UNS has set up a battery cell factory at its business development center in Solo. It is the only site in Indonesia that manufactures battery cells for electric vehicles, and produces around 1,000 lithium metal phosphate (LMP), nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) and manganese cobalt (NMC) battery cells.
The research has also produce a prototype electric scooter. The Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) has developed a prototype electric motorcycle called Gesits, which PT Gesits Technologies Indo will start manufacturing commercially in November at an output of 50,000 units per year.
However, progress is possible in the use of locally developed research technology for industry, if the domestic industry also develops. If foreign companies dominate the production of electric vehicles, as with fossil fuel-powered vehicles, developing electric car technology through local research will be difficult.
In fact, the individuals deliberating the draft regulation on electric vehicles have been fully behind the development of the national electric vehicle industry.
The Industry Ministry has rejected an article in the draft regulation that requires the sales of fossil fuel-powered vehicles to be terminated by 2040. The ministry instead supports the development of hybrid vehicles that combine fossil fuel and electricity, although the domestic industry has not yet mastered hybrid technology.
The maritime industry, transportation equipment and defense equipment director at the Industry Ministry, Putu Juli Ardika, recently denied that the ministry had hampered the national development of electric vehicles. However, he acknowledged that electric vehicle technology development required adequate infrastructure facilities. According to him, the electric vehicle industry cannot develop if without establishing adequate charging stations.
The head of the UNS research and community service institute, Muhammad Nizam, who also leads the battery cell research program, said if the Industry Ministry dominated the deliberation on the presidential regulation, the result would not favor the national electric vehicle industry.
Nizam said that in 2012, when the National Electricity Car (Molina) research team was formed, the UNS and other state universities had submitted a proposal on electric vehicle development to the government. However, the Industry Ministry instead issued Ministerial Regulation No. 33/M-IND/PER/7/2013 on the development of fuel-efficient and affordable vehicles, the production of which is controlled by foreign companies.
"A regulation on electric vehicles is needed, because many researchers and producers have turned their attention to such vehicles. Don\'t allow this regulation to instead be redirected to the development of hybrid cars," said Ibnu Susilo, the chairman of the Nusantara Automotive Industry Association
The University of Indonesia’s (UI) Mohammad Adhitya, the deputy director of the UI Research Center for Vehicle Advancement, said research on hybrid vehicle technology had received minimal attention in the country because it was relatively more complicated and costly, while electric vehicle components were simpler.