Indonesia Still Cannot Make Electric Cars Because of This

KatadataOTO – Vietnam is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that is already capable of producing electric cars.

On the other hand, Indonesia has not yet been able to achieve this. Yet, upon examination, Indonesia has far more abundant and adequate resources than Vietnam.

According to researchers, there are several things that can be adopted from Vietnam if the Indonesian government is interested in developing domestic products and having its own factory.

“In Vietnam, they take the best people. For example, for batteries, they hired a director from Korea,” said Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Evvy Kartini, Founder of the National Battery Research Institute, on the sidelines of a Populix x Forwot discussion event some time ago.

Photo : VinFast

Then for the mechanical experts who will handle the product, Prof. Evvy revealed that Vietnam entrusts it to the best mechanical experts from Switzerland.

“Then the designers are from Italy, all experts. What is that for? To develop quality and international-standard products,” said Prof. Evvy.

The Vietnamese-made products also go through strict testing standards to meet the requirements for export to various countries.

But importantly, Prof. Evvy highlighted that many Vietnamese workers are also empowered, working directly under the experts.

“Once it has developed, five years later when the experts retire and return to their countries, who owns the factory now? Vietnam, the second layer. In my opinion, we should learn from Vietnam,” Prof. Evvy asserted.

Without a structured strategy, Indonesia will not yet be able to assemble electric cars independently or fully own a factory.

Photo : KatadataOTO

“Indonesia should not just be a market, where people come to sell. Where is the added value? In their countries,” she said.

She hopes that in the future, Indonesia will have the capability to produce electric cars using batteries and other materials from within the country.

She emphasized that Indonesia must start now if it does not want to be left behind by other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.