TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - PT Trimentari Niaga (BRT) president director Tomy Huang on Sunday said to Tempo that the motorcycle aftermarket parts producer has the capacity to convert thousands of motorcycles from traditional internal combustion engines into electric motorcycles on a monthly basis.

This was explained during the ‘electric vehicle funday’ event at the Gelora Bung Karno East Plaza, Central Jakarta.

“BRT is able to [convert] in the thousands per month. Because we are not a motor garage but a manufacturer. We can reach the thousands as we produce [our own spare parts],” said Huang on December 18.

The company that was initially established as a motorcycle racing aftermarket parts provider nearly 2 decades now has 150 network dealerships across 27 provinces in Indonesia that will be able to offer electric motor conversion kits to be installed in traditional motorcycles.

“We will grow that to 1,000 existing [networks] by June 2023,” said Huang who asserted that the EV manpower will always wear yellow uniforms.

Huang asserted that BRT services will only need roughly 45 minutes to swap an electric motor into a motorcycle with fuel-based engines. In the early stages, the company started with 3 days to convert a traditional motorcycle to a fully-functional electric motorcycle.

In terms of cost, he explained that motorcycles under 115 cc engine capacity will be equipped with a 2-kilowatt motor that will cost Rp7.5 million but will exclude the battery which will be subject to a government subsidy program in the near future. The cost of assembling the electric components and all the legal paperwork for an electric motorcycle will reach Rp9.65 million.

Tomy sees that the government, especially the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), is serious enough to increase the number of electric vehicles in the market. But the most important thing is that the conversion of electric motors must be affordable and of good quality, and inspires confidence for the motorcyclist.

MOH KHORY ALFARIZI

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