Battery Standardization Could Entice People to Switch to Electric Motorcycles

KatadataOTO – Besides price, the accessibility of electric vehicle infrastructure is a consideration for people before buying an electric motorcycle.

Unfortunately, not all battery swap or electric motorcycle charging stations are standardized or can be used by various types of models.

Some can only be used by specific models prepared by the electric vehicle manufacturer.

This becomes a new obstacle for Indonesian consumers. Because it will be very troublesome if swap stations and charging stations are available in limited numbers.

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Meanwhile, electric motorcycles are starting to be widely used by online motorcycle taxis, who certainly need to charge or swap batteries within a certain period.

“This is the reality in Indonesia, 52 brands all have different batteries. The sizes are also different,” said Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Evvy Kartini, Founder of the National Battery Research Institute in Jakarta recently.

According to Prof. Evvy, with battery standardization, vehicle owners can freely charge or swap batteries at the provided stations.

The expansion of swap and charging station networks is also said to be easier and faster to reach various regions if a standard is established.

“If that happens, I'm sure people will definitely switch to battery-based (vehicles),” said Prof. Evvy.

For electric cars, the ecosystem has started to develop. Meanwhile, in the electric motorcycle sector, especially those using a swap system, the infrastructure is not yet evenly distributed.

Then, it is hoped that manufacturers can help provide cross-brand charging stations. Users of other electric motorcycle brands would only need to pay an additional administrative fee.

“It's the same (as ATMs), a Mandiri card used at a BRI ATM pays Rp 6,500. Just make it simple, so the investment isn't too large,” Prof. Evvy emphasized.

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On a different occasion some time ago, the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) has expressed its intention to launch a standardization rule for electric motorcycle batteries.

“With the standardization of electric batteries, we hope there will be many investors willing to invest. Then, from the consumer's side, it will be easier to perform swaps or shifting,” said Febri Hendri Antoni Arif, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry.

Not only does it make it easier for consumers, battery standardization is claimed to be able to encourage the domestic battery industry to develop further.