Pertamina Gas Station Will Sink, Erick Thohir: This Is Not Naughty, People Charging At Home If They Have An Electric Car

Minister of BUMN, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of BUMN)

JAKARTA - State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir estimates that a number of businesses will fade along with technological developments. One of them is in the energy sector. The presence of electric vehicle batteries will change the gas station business map.

According to Erick Thohir, if electric cars are mushrooming in the future, 80 percent of the additional charging or energy charging will be carried out in their respective homes. This means that fewer people will come to the gas station.

"We are talking about the Electric Vehicle (EV) battery. If an electric car is turned into an electric car, 80 percent of the cars are charged at home, it means that the gas station business will sink. This is not a scare because this change is happening," he said at the HIPMI National Working Meeting. 2021 online, Friday, March 5.

Erick said that the existence of technological transformation requires a number of business people to make adjustments quickly to innovate and open themselves to change.

Erick said that the Ministry of BUMN continues to encourage state companies to make new adjustments. Especially in the line of business. Regarding the affected businesses of PT Pertamina (Persero), the government will take a number of long-term strategic steps in the future.

"Like it or not, the gas station will be affected, that's why we are also implementing a long-term strategy for each BUMN, it is proven that people believe it," he explained.

For your information, the government continues to promote the development of the Electric Vehicle Battery or EV Battery project. On the investment side, the government is partnering with global investors to take part in this national strategic project (PSN).

Global companies that will partner in the Indonesian electric vehicle ecosystem are Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) from China and LG Chem from South Korea (South Korea).

Part of the PSN, will be located in the Integrated Industrial Zone (KIT) Batang, Central Java, which was reviewed by President Jokowi at the end of last June. This 4,300 ha industrial estate is an example of the cooperation between the government and BUMN in providing competitive land in terms of price, connectivity and labor.

It is planned that some of the batteries produced from this project will be supplied to the first electric car factory in Indonesia which already exists and will soon begin the production stage.

The development of an integrated electric battery industry is a concrete step in accordance with President Jokowi's target to encourage economic transformation towards Advanced Indonesia by 2045. Downstream mining is one manifestation of this transformation.