Erick Thohir Wants Indonesia To Become A Major Player In The Electric Car Industry

BUMN Minister Erick Thohir checks the electric car charging station facilities (Source: Ministry of BUMN)

JAKARTA - BUMN Minister Erick Thohir has checked a number of charging stations in the Bali area. He said, electric cars can save on fuel costs. This was revealed after trying to drive the electric car.

Erick said that the checking of electric car charging facilities was carried out because Indonesia wanted to become a major player in the electric car industry. "This electric car has been tested by the PLN team from Jakarta to Bali," Erick was quoted as saying from the statement received by VOI, Saturday, January 2.

"If with fuel the cost is Rp1.1 million, then with an electric car it is only Rp. 200 thousand. This is of course very saving, especially during a pandemic like this," he added.

Furthermore, Erick said that electric cars have many benefits. Not only for the economy, but also for the environment. This is in line with the government's mission to promote sustainable economic development.

"Electric cars are more environmentally friendly. The emission produced is lower than vehicles that use fuel oil, so it will reduce air pollution and noise pollution. Even PLN provides a 30 percent discount for charging at night," he said.

Erick said, all parties must maintain national energy security. Because, currently imports of 1.5 million barrels per day of fuel or the equivalent of 200 trillion per year. "Electric cars are a solution to reduce the movement of foreign exchange abroad," he explained.

For your information, this electric car is in accordance with the order of the Minister of BUMN to PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) from the start to improve services to the public and also change its business strategy according to the pattern of people's lives due to the pandemic, namely continuing to anticipate the development of electric cars.

"Currently, PLN is also included in the BUMN consortium that builds electric batteries with Korea and China," he said.

Previously, Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia confirmed that the integrated electric vehicle battery industry development project between LG Energy Solution Ltd and the BUMN consortium would absorb as much local labor as possible.

Not only that, Bahlil said that in the negotiation process, the Indonesian government also emphasized that there must be national entrepreneurs and national entrepreneurs in the regions as well as SMEs in the investment. The goal is to encourage incoming investment to support local economic growth.

The plan is for the location of the electric vehicle battery industry factory to be divided into two, in which the upstream side of the smelter and mining construction will be located in North Maluku. Meanwhile, the production of precursors and cathodes as well as some of the cell batteries will be located in the Batang Integrated Industrial Zone, Central Java.

Bahlil explained that the development of an integrated electric battery industry is a concrete step in accordance with President Jokowi's target to encourage economic transformation towards an advanced Indonesia in 2045. Downstream mining is one form of this transformation.

Furthermore, said Bahlil, the investment plan value of this project reached US $ 9.8 billion, equivalent to Rp. 142 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,500). He said the investment value that achieved this was an extraordinary achievement. In fact, based on BKPM's records, there has been no investment in the post-reform period of this magnitude.

"Where in the pandemic era, almost a few countries have opportunities like this. Even in the pandemic era, there is a lot of interest from investors here," he explained.