Abandon BBG, Transjakarta Bus Engines Will Be Replaced With Electric Fuel

Illustration of a bus for the Transjakarta fleet. (Antaranews)

JAKARTA - PT Transport Jakarta (Transjakarta) will replace a number of Transjakarta buses using gas (BBG) fuel into electricity.

This is stated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Equipmake Holdings Plc, a UK-based commercial vehicle electrification specialist and PT VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas.

President Director of PT Transjakarta Mochammad Yana Aditya said this effort was made in order to accelerate the transition of all of its bus fleets to electric power.

"Transjakarta signed an MoU with an Equipmake company as the owner of retrofit technology and components and Vector as a license holder who will produce retrofit machines," Yana said in a statement, Thursday, August 18.

This three-party cooperation, Yana said, is expected to meet the target of electing 10 thousand Transjakarta buses by 2030 and increase domestic manufacturing capabilities.

Yana explained that the production of retrofit machines will be used as a substitute for conventional machines to become electric-driven machines. This method has also been used in various countries.

"Equipmake and Vector are currently preparing to manufacture electric bus engines by retrofitting to meet Transjakarta's needs," he said.

Previously, the Head of the Transjakarta Corporate Secretary Division, Anang Rizkani Noor. Anang said, the transportation BUMD belonging to the DKI Provincial Government is targeting all of its buses to be powered by electricity by 2030.

“Transjakarta will gradually electrify all fleets from big buses to Microtrans. This is a form of our seriousness in achieving the electrification target of the entire fleet until 2030," said Anang.

One of the efforts that have been made is the procurement of an electric Microtrans fleet through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the DFSK electric minibus provider, PT Bevos Auto Mandiri.

Later, this electric microtrans is planned to be tested on the Tanah Abang-Kota route (JAK 10) in September 2022.

The DFSK Electric Microtrans fleet has a battery capacity of 42 kWh with a range of up to 300 KM. The battery charging process is fast, which is 2.5 hours on a single charge.

"It is hoped that this Electric Microtrans can be a vehicle that is encountered when leaving the house to take it to its destination (first miles and last miles) that is safe, comfortable and of course environmentally friendly," explained Anang.