UNS — Yuniaristanto, a lecturer in the Industrial Engineering Study Program at the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, has successfully earned a doctorate through his research on electric motorcycles. During an open defense session, Yuniaristanto defended his dissertation titled “Holistic Modeling of Electric Motorcycle Adoption in Indonesia: Consumer, Product, and Contextual Reviews” in the Multimedia Room of Building IV on the UNS campus, Friday (14/6/2024).

The open dissertation defense was chaired by Prof. Dr. Ir. Cucuk Nur Rosyidi, S.T., M.T., with Prof. Dr. Ir. Wahyudi Sutopo, S.T., M.Si. as the head of the supervisory team. Yuniaristanto became the first UNS Doctor of Industrial Engineering graduate with a published article in a top-tier journal (Q1). He completed his doctoral studies in 2 years and 3 months, specializing in Logistics Systems and Business Engineering. The research roadmap was developed in collaboration with the Industrial Engineering and Techno-Economics Research Group (GR-RITE), the Industrial Engineering Study Program (PSTI) UNS, and the Faculty of Engineering UNS.

In his dissertation, Yuniaristanto stated that he did not only examine the technical aspects but also the psychological aspects of consumers and Indonesian national culture, bringing novelty to his research.

“We integrated culture and consumer psychology. The research findings related to culture and psychology indicate long-term orientation,” Yuniaristanto said on Friday (14/6/2024).

He explained that this long-term orientation suggests that using electric motorcycles will be more economical over time. “Although the initial cost may be much higher than conventional motorcycles, educating the public that the total cost over six years is much cheaper than gasoline motorcycles is crucial,” he said.

In his dissertation, Yuniaristanto proposed several recommendations to stakeholders to achieve the government’s electrification targets. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) targets 13,4 million electric motorcycles by 2030.

He suggested the need for incentives for the establishment of Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (SPKLU) and Public Electric Vehicle Battery Exchange Stations (SPBKLU).

He also recommended that the government provide financial incentives such as credit interest subsidies for purchasing electric motorcycles, electric cars, or Electric Vehicles (EVs), and for battery production.

Moreover, he suggested that the government start by replacing official and public transport vehicles with electric vehicles.

For the private sector, he encouraged them to be more efficient to make electric motorcycles more affordable, provide battery rental services, and increase the availability of service centers and spare parts.

He also provided recommendations to make electric motorcycles more appealing to younger generations, such as Gen Z.

One suggestion was to frequently organize electric vehicle test drives. He believes that potential consumers should be given the opportunity to try electric vehicles to experience their benefits firsthand. This approach is expected to boost sales.

HUMAS UNS