If the oil fuel is replaced with electricity, the cost spent is only 40 percent of the figure.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry has successfully converted 100 units of conventional motorcycles into electric ones to encourage the establishment of an electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia.

The converted motorcycles were showcased by the ministry on Thursday.

"In implementing the conversion program, we used components which are easily found in the market," ESDM Minister Arifin Tasrif said here on Thursday.

The conversion program was launched on August 17, 2021, as a follow-up to the Regulation of the Transportation Minister Number 65 of 2020 concerning the conversion of conventional motorcycles into battery-based electric motorcycles.

The electric motorbikes have passed the endurance test by traveling 10 thousand kilometers (km) of straight, uphill, as well as downhill roads for 48 days in rainy and sunny conditions.

The conversion program was carried out by the ESDM Ministry’s Center for Research and Development of Electricity, New Energy, Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation Technology (P3TKEBTKE)

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The center obtained an official electric motorcycle workshop certification from the Transportation Ministry’s Directorate General of Land Transportation on June 30, 2021.

The workshop is located in the P3TKEBTKE office complex on Jalan Pendidikan Number 1, Pengasinan village, Gunung Sindur sub-district, Bogor district.

According to the ESDM Ministry’s data, currently, Indonesia has around 115 million to 120 million motorcycle units, with six million units added every year.

"We have calculated that one motorcycle averagely consumes two liters of oil fuel per day; let us assume that the fuel costs Rp7,650 per liter; hence, the owner spends Rp15,300 per day on fuel. If the oil fuel is replaced with electricity, the cost spent is only 40 percent of the figure,” the minister pointed out.

He said that the conversion program also showed the government’s focus on the energy transition program for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.

The ministry will next seek to convert 1,000 motorcycles into electric bikes, in collaboration with state-owned electricity company PT PLN and state-run oil and gas enterprise PT Pertamina.
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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Uyu Liman
Editor: Suharto
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