Arya Sinulingga: Pertamina Will Become A Battery Manufacturer For Electric Cars, Tesla Is One Of Them

Pertamina Building. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The BUMN Ministry has revealed that Pertamina will eventually become a state-owned energy company that produces batteries for electric vehicles.

"Pertamina in the future will become a state-owned company that will produce electric vehicle batteries," said Special Staff to the Minister of BUMN Arya Sinulingga, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, September 29.

According to Arya, in this way Pertamina will change from a state-owned energy company that sells fossil energy into battery energy for electric vehicles.

He further said that currently Pertamina is being asked to calculate how long it will take for fossil energy to be used.

Arya conveyed that there would be a certain point later for Indonesia to enter into battery energy. In the concept of batteries for electric vehicles (EV), BUMN Minister Erick Thohir is negotiating with electric vehicle battery manufacturers from South Korea and China.

The BUMN Ministry, said Arya, will also explore or approach an international electric car battery manufacturer, namely Tesla. In addition to that related to PLN, later the state-owned electricity company will act as a supplier of electricity.

"This is what we see as our future plans," said Arya Sinulingga.

Previously, the government through the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) ensured that the development of battery-based electric vehicles continues.

Deputy for Infrastructure and Transportation Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment Ridwan Djamaluddin said that from the beginning the government had decided to encourage the use of electric vehicles, including building the electric vehicle industry and its supporting infrastructure in Indonesia.

The government has also set development priorities for battery-based motorized vehicles. Currently, the construction of supporting infrastructure, such as electricity charging stations, continues to be developed.