Indonesia set sights on e-mobility pole position in Southeast Asia

Virta Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, Elias Pöyry, presented a keynote to the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia on May 24^th on the key success factors for becoming a leader in electric mobility. Pöyry discussed the importance of a connected, open, and decentralized charging infrastructure when transitioning to electric mobility and renewable energy systems.

Ahead of the 2022 G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo announced ambitious plans to accelerate electric mobility in the country. Indonesia’s vision is to become a leader of renewable energy in Southeast Asia and to have 400,000 electric cars by 2025. 

“We believe Southeast Asia will be the next hot spot of electric mobility. A credible player in the electric vehicle (EV) charging sphere needs to have their own political decisions in place, as is now happening in Indonesia,” said Elias Pöyry.

Accelerating the EV industry is part of the Indonesian government’s aim to to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 29% by 2030 and to achieve zero carbon emission by 2060.

Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. As the world’s largest archipelagic country with over 270 million people, Indonesia has a lot to gain by transitioning to e-mobility and renewable energy systems. Improving air quality, reducing GHG emissions, and growing automotive manufacturing will help improve Indonesia's socio-economic development and combat climate change. E-mobility is also seen as a potential draw for tourism. 

KEY FACTORS THAT ENABLE A SUCCESSFUL & SUSTAINABLE TRANSITION TO ELECTRIC MOBILITY

Based on Virta experiences from over 30 markets, the discussions covered the key factors that enable a successful and sustainable transition to electric mobility.

Ramping-up of capabilities to operate and monetize smart EV charging services from scratch will take years and cause a considerable bottleneck for the targeted speed of transition. Relying on the matured technology and a multi-tenant service model that is already in use in Europe will shorten this ramp-up time significantly and allow companies to start EV charging services within weeks instead of years.

As the user numbers and transactions scale, the security issues become critically topical. By using reliable and trustworthy systems, companies ensure compliance with the latest security standards, enable smooth operations, and limit risks.

High standards of security are critical also from the energy system point of view as increasing number of charging points and battery capacity is connected to local and nationwide grids.

The role of energy management technologies is particularly important in countries like Indonesia who have access to local renewable electricity production and want to get moving swiftly without massive infrastructure renewals.

Smart energy management features allow companies to optimize installation and grid-connection costs on the individual property level. On the Grid-level the energy resource management capabilities help companies avoid excessive infrastructure investments when first ramping up the electric mobility ecosystem.

Furthermore, smart energy management capabilities are the key to take full advantage of the rich solar power and wind power resources available in Indonesia and the wider South-East Asia region. Indeed, the island network may be the key to the future of renewable energy in Indonesia due to a positive feedback loop from renewable energy and the electrification of transport.

Finally, from the consumer and commercial point of view, the EV adoption rates and EV charging business growth can be sped up by interoperability. Just like with mobile telecommunications operators, roaming networks in EV charging connect operators to allow interoperability, which makes for a better customer experience, and gives charging point owners more potential users.

Catalysing the local EV charging and e-mobility growth

Virta acts as a catalyst for e-mobility, driving the local markets and enabling low-barrier entry for local players to launch, scale, and operate EV charging in one ecosystem. Since Virta co-develops software set-ups with its customers, the company offers unbeatable cost-efficiency, speed, and bandwidth for innovation and development compared to any individual company efforts.

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About Virta 

Virta has operated in the world’s fastest-growing EV markets of Europe since 2015 and is present in more than 30 countries globally, enabling EV charging services of over one thousand charging networks operating over 60 000 charging points on the Virta Platform. Through roaming, the Virta network offers its over 600 000 monthly active EV drivers access to EV charging through over 250 000 charging points in over 60 countries. 

Virta is one of the biggest and fastest-growing market players in Europe. As an indication of the growth, Virta was ranked for the third consecutive year in Financial Times FT1000 Fastest Growing Companies in Europe 2022 list. 

Thousands of companies running on the Virta platform, and the ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certificates guarantee high quality, which means charging business operators can focus on their core businesses without the need of worrying about the reliability, maintenance or scaling issues. 

Virta has over 19 patent families, including trailblazing bi-directional charging technologies, and is the forerunner also in technological development measured by patents relative to investments in the company.  

Media enquiries and speaker invitations:

Esa-Pekka Nykänen, Director Brand and Communications, Virta

esa-pekka.nykanen@virta.global

Tel. +358 40 5953135