Indonesian mobile on-demand services platform Gojek and integrated energy firm PT TBS Energi Utama Tbk (TBS) announced Thursday the formation of a joint venture to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in Indonesia.

The joint venture, known as Electrum, will act as a platform through which both companies will develop infrastructure for two-wheel EVs throughout the country, both parties said in a statement.

Leveraging Gojek’s deep presence in Indonesia and TBS’ capabilities in the energy sector, the two companies will work together to build a comprehensive and scalable EV ecosystem, including two-wheel EV manufacturing, battery packaging, battery swap infrastructure and financing for EV ownership.

According to the statement, this joint venture is part of Gojek and TBS’ commitments to achieve Zero Emissions by 2030, which will see Gojek transition its fleet to 100 percent EVs and TBS invest in clean and renewable energy during the same time period.

The collaboration is also in line with the Indonesian government’s plans to make the development of the EV industry a national priority.

“We have always recognized that strong industry collaboration will be crucial to help solve the most pressing environmental challenges that society faces today. Gojek’s aim is to work together with partners to achieve our sustainability goals, including fully electrifying our transport fleet by 2030.

“By bringing together the best of Gojek and TBS’ strengths, we will be able to support Indonesia’s transition to building a cleaner, more accessible and sustainable mobility system – ultimately making EVs the norm in our country, contributing to the country’s emissions reduction targets and improving air quality in our cities,” said Gojek Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Kevin Aluwi,

Meanwhile, TBS President Director Pandu Sjahrir said TBS is fully committed to sustainability and its target of achieving net zero emissions by 2030.

“This collaboration with Gojek is part of our commitment to reinvest our current earnings in clean and renewable energy, in line with our business transformation goals and aim to become a greener business,” he said.

To enable large-scale adoption of EVs in Indonesia, he said it is crucial to develop a strong and comprehensive EV ecosystem.

“Our vast experience and deep understanding of the energy sector, combined with the large scale of the Gojek network, will be a catalyst for the development of the EV industry in Indonesia. As EVs become more widely available, we hope that this will inspire greater confidence in EVs from members of the public and encourage them to give it a try, so that they can also enjoy the many benefits of EVs,” he added.

Gojek recently announced an EV and battery swapping pilot scheme in Jakarta in collaboration with Gogoro, Gesit and Pertamina. This will initially comprise 500 EVs, with plans to scale to 5,000 EVs travelling a total of one million kilometers in the future.

With this pilot, Gojek customers will be able to select EVs when using the GoRide service in South Jakarta. Driver partners using EVs can also go about their daily routines more efficiently, serving customers across Gojek services such as GoRide, GoFood, GoSend Instant, GoShop and GoMart.

The data from this pilot will also be used to further develop the technology and infrastructure for EVs, in order to meet the needs of Gojek’s driver partners, customers and the wider Indonesian market.

Gojek was first established in 2010 focusing on courier and motorcycle ride-hailing services, before launching the app in January 2015 in Indonesia. Since then, it has grown to become the leading on-demand platform in Southeast Asia, providing access to a wide range of services from transportation, to food delivery, logistics and many others.

As of March 2021, Gojek’s application has been downloaded more than 190 million times by users across Southeast Asia.

TBS is an integrated energy company which currently conducts business in power, mining and plantation sector through subsidiaries.

In the electricity sector, TBS has subsidiaries that developed the PLTU Sulut-3 2×50 megawatt (MW) project in North Sulawesi and the PLTU Sulbagut-1 2x50MW project in Gorontalo, as well as 1 subsidiary which developed a mini hydro power plant project of 2×3 MW in Lampung.

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