Gede Sandra: The Impact Of The Electric Vehicle Component Production Environment Is Worrying

Eddy Wijaya and Gede Sandra. (Doc Eddy Wijaya)

JAKARTA - University of Indonesia economist Gede Sandra warned of the dangers of environmental pollution arising from the burning of nickel mining coal in Indonesia. This is increasingly worrying because the production of electric vehicle battery components from Indonesian nickel is getting higher.

"Indeed, in making it (the nickel mine) requires excessive coal, especially in the smelter. The burning even requires coal with very high calorie spectra, usually the coding method used. So indeed in terms of the environment it also needs to be calculated," said Gede while talking to Eddy Wijaya on the EdShareOn podcast which aired on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.

According to Gede, nickel management in Indonesia, which is not supported by advanced technology, further adds to the risk of environmental pollution in areas. In China there is a cleaner technology (smelter), but the cost is expensive. Most of those in Sulawesi (nickel mines) are very dangerous because they may be cheap," he said.

The Indonesian government is trying to control the production of electric vehicles as a solution to overcome air pollution and increase renewable energy. The effort was carried out by accelerating the construction of supporting infrastructure for electric vehicles such as Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (SPKLU) as well as PLN's sales and electricity tariff subsidies for electric vehicle consumers. The government targets the number of electric vehicles in Indonesia as many as 2 million electric cars and 13 million units of two-wheeled electric vehicles by 2030.

Gede Sandra, who is none other than an expert staff of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs of the late Rizal Ramli, said that electric vehicles are indeed one of the promising advanced technologies, but the alignment between nickel mining areas and the area of use of electric vehicles must be a concern. "Worth it or not? We use electric cars in cities, the cities are cleaner, but it turns out that black smoke (triggers pollution) elsewhere?" said Gede.

Therefore, Gede hopes that the Government will find solutions to environmental pollution caused by nickel mining, especially for the production of this electric vehicle component. How to address the motorcyclist here (the nickel mining area). This is what we have to think about? Is there technology, is there other sciences, is there not environmentally?' he said.

Gede added that Indonesia is the country with the largest nickel reserves in the world that has become the target market for electric vehicles from other countries such as Japan. So that Indonesia must maintain great opportunities in terms of the availability of natural resources and sales of electric vehicle products that are more environmentally friendly. If there is an era like today, we have markets and resources, it's just a matter of technicality, capital, and investment we can use for economic growth," he said.

Coordinating Minister Zulkifli Hasan Must Answer The Problem Of Permendag 8/2024

University of Indonesia economist Gede Sandra regretted the impact caused by the issuance of the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 8 of 2024 concerning the Third Amendment to Permendag Number 36 of 2023 concerning Import Policy and Regulation. According to him, the Permendag is a sacrifice to the national industry and is a source for the termination of employment (PHK) for thousands of textile company employees in Indonesia.

"Indeed, Permendag is the culprit. This regulation creates labor unions, especially from textile companies that fight for their members because the issue of layoffs has been angry and demonstrated many times," said Gede to Eddy Wijaya.

The Special Staff of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources 2013-2014 explained that there were 60 textile companies that were affected during the ratification of the Permendag on May 17, 2024. Sritex is one of them. They said we were under pressure by this Permendag. And Sritex is not alone, there are 60 other companies," he said.

Gede also regretted the attitude of the Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs, Zulkifli Hasan, who issued the regulation while serving as Minister of Trade. "Actually, he (Zulkifli Hasan) was the problem. Right, he issued the rules, why didn't he answer?" he said.

Permendag 8/2024 was issued in the era of President Joko Widodo to facilitate import licensing. However, it triggered a surge in Textile Imports and Textile Products (TPT) in mid-2024. This became one of the triggers for 11 thousand workers from textile companies to be laid off.

Who Is Eddy Wijaya Really, Here's The Profile

The figure of Eddy Wijaya is a podcaster who was born on August 17, 1972. Through the @EdShareOn YouTube account, Eddy interviewed many national figures ranging from state officials, legal experts, political experts, national politicians, to Indonesian celebrities. The man with the characteristics of the right cheek dimple is also a nationalist who is a struggling activist for discriminated and social observers by helping the community through the Wijaya Peduli Bangsa foundation.

He is also active in sports by serving as Daily Chair of the Indonesian Horseed Sports Association (Pordasi) Pacu and has also served as Deputy Chairperson of the All-Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) East Jakarta. His ideas were formed because of his hard work to be independent from the age of 13 years until his success as he is now. For Eddy, the world of work is not as smooth as imagined, failure and rejection are commonplace. This is what makes him hold on to the tagline Success is only a matter of time.