Electric Cars Are Predicted To Soon Appear In Indonesia

President Jokowi says electric cars will soon appear in Indonesia (India DNA)

JAKARTA – Currently, electric cars are the prima donna of the automotive industry. In Indonesia, electric cars are not that crowded, but President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) predicts that electric cars will appear in Indonesia in the next two or three years.

This is the result of the government's strategy to stop the export of nickel raw materials to be processed domestically. Jokowi considers that utilizing Nickel in the country is an opportunity that should not be wasted. This was conveyed by Jokowi during the Briefing of PPSA XXIII Participants at the National Resilience Institution at the State Palace on Wednesday, October 13, 2021.

Indonesia itself is one of the largest nickel-producing countries in the world and is said to be able to process these raw materials into battery cathodes and lithium-ion batteries. Then the processed products will be integrated with the automotive industry so that Indonesia has the opportunity to become an electric car producer.

"Stop exporting raw materials, we force SOEs, private companies, or investors to set up their industries in the country and later you can see, in two or three years, electric cars will start to emerge from our country," said Jokowi.

Until now, the car manufacturer Hyundai has expressed a commitment to produce batteries and electric cars in Indonesia. Indonesia will have the first battery factory in ASEAN which will be located in Karawang, this is the result of a partnership between Hyundai and LG.

The construction of the battery factory is expected to be completed in 2023, then mass production can be carried out the following year. In addition, Hyundai also revealed that it will produce electric cars at an assembly plant located in Bekasi, starting in 2022.

Following Hyundai, the Chinese car manufacturer Wuling has expressed its willingness to produce electric cars in Indonesia. It is possible that the products will be made at the Wuling factory located in Cikarang. Wuling plans to make a city car type electric car that will be sold at an affordable price, under Rp. 100 million.

In addition to the two car manufacturers, in fact other car manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki have stated their readiness to produce electrified cars such as hybrid and plug-in hybrid types in Indonesia in 2022.

Jokowi also explained that Krakatau Steel would be able to produce sheet steel at the hot strip mill factory in Cilegon to meet the needs of car bodies. This is part of the continuation of the utilization of downstream industry in the country.

"Because now Krakatu Steel, with the existing mix, the hot strip mill factory, is able to produce thin sheets [of steel] that can be used for car bodies, previously only for the rest, which I only inaugurated a month ago," said President Joko Widodo. .