JAKARTA – Early this year, Indonesian social entrepreneur Iben Yuzenho Ismarson, 42, ditched his car to ride an electric motorcycle to his office 5km away from his home in South Jakarta.
For Mr Iben, the conversion, which cost him 30 million rupiah , is a “little step” into adopting a more eco-friendly lifestyle that is more affordable than driving an electric car and installing solar panels at home. The quality comes with efficiency too. He needs to charge his battery only for around four hours, which he believes does not cost much, to cover the 44km return trips daily from his home in South Tangerang to his office in Jakarta, instead of spending 30,000 rupiah for fuel daily.
While the massive shift into electric motorcycles is yet to happen, eco-conscious people present new business opportunities to small-scale workshops. “The manufactured electric motorcycles have standard specifications. Their maximum speed is only 45kmh to 50kmh, while people usually want the ones that can run above 60kmh,” said Mr Dharmawan about the appeal of conversion.
Founded nine years ago, Elders Garage, also in South Jakarta, started to convert Vespa scooters with 125cc to 150cc engines into electric ones in 2021.