FT UNS Professor Highlights Advantages of Converting Electric Vehicles

UNS — Recently, the government promoted the electrification of motorized vehicles from oil-fueled (BBM) to electric vehicles. This is also an effort to reduce existing carbon emissions. This was stated by the Professor of the Faculty of Engineering (FT) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Prof. Dr. Wahyudi Sutopo, S.T., M.Sc.

He explained that electrification efforts were strengthened by Presidential Regulation No 55 of 2019 concerning the Acceleration of the Battery-Based Electric Motor Vehicle Program for Road Transportation as one of the government’s efforts to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

“Through this regulation, the government also socializes the use of motorbikes and electric cars, followed by the issuance of various incentives and other supporting regulations,” Prof. Wahyudi explained, quoted from ft.uns.ac.id, Friday (12/5/2023).

Electric Motorcycle Conversion

 “There are two types of electric motorbikes in Indonesia. First, it is new design electric motorbikes or those produced by companies with new designs using electric technology in their operating processes. For example, electric motorcycles under the brands Viar, Volta Gesits, Selis, and many more. Second, that is a conversion electric motorbike or a petrol motorbike where the motor and engine parts are substituted with a battery kit as an energy source,” he explained.

This conversion is also regulated in Minister of Transportation Regulation Number 65 for 2020. This conversion process can be carried out on motorcycles that are no longer used by users.

 “This conversion process is considered quite economical and profitable for the owner. Based on previous research, it has been shown that convertible motorbikes can travel 55 km/hour and have speeds of up to 70 km/hour,” he added.

Subsidy for Conversion to Electric Motorcycle

The government has provided incentives of 7 million per unit of electric motorbikes with a minimum Domestic Component Level (TKDN) of 40% since March 20, 2023. As many as 5,000 units or 20% of them are allocated as subsidies for the conversion of gasoline motorbikes.

Prof. Wahyudi explained that there are several requirements that must be met by owners who wish to receive subsidies in the process of converting their motorcycles. Some of these requirements are that the engine capacity of the gasoline motorcycles to be converted has a capacity of between 110 cc to 150 cc with complete administration, starting from STNK, BPKB, and legal vehicle numbers. Then, STNK and KTP must be the same and according to the name of the owner, the age of the vehicle must also not exceed 10 years. The conversion process must also be carried out at a workshop that has been verified by the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub).

“The Ministry of Transportation has appointed 22 motorcycle conversion workshops that are verified or have official workshop permits. One of them is PT Ekolektrik Converting Mandiri which is under the auspices of the Center for Science and Technology Excellence (PUI) for Electrical Energy Storage Technology UNS. PT Ekolektrik Kustom Mandiri has been operating in the development of electric vehicles since 2019. Based on the survey, the current conversion process has progressed and only takes 45 minutes to complete,” the Head of the UNS Lithium Battery PUI Public Relations and Commercialization Division explained.

This conversion process includes replacing the rear engine of the motorcycle with a conversion kit consisting of an electric motor, controller, battery charging inlet, wiring system, as well as adding a battery and battery management system (BMS).

Total Cost of Ownership

One of the advantages of a convertible electric motorcycles is its cost compared to petrol motorcycles. This is because consumers only need to spend a certain amount of money for conversion costs on their motorcycles. Based on a comparison of the value of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) or total cost of ownership, convertible electric motorbikes have a significant advantage over petrol motorbikes.

“Through the accumulation of calculations over the 6-year ownership period, the existence of a subsidy of 7 million was able to reduce the profits of convertible electric motorbikes, which were initially 41% (19,924 million) to 60% (12,134 million), more economical than gasoline motorbikes. This is a conversion cost that is sufficiently covered by subsidies plus the operational costs of electric motorcycles which are quite economical, making the TCO value even lower,” he explained.

Through a comparison of the TCO between gasoline motorcycles and conversion motorcycles, this certainly raises a dilemma when adopting a convertible electric motorcycle. If we look back, in terms of costs and usage, it has more advantages than the gasoline motorbikes currently used. Therefore, it is a challenge for early adopters to participate in the success of this electric vehicle electrification program. Humas UNS

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