As the government promotes electric vehicle adoption, experts voice significant concerns about the country’s ability to manage the accompanying battery waste.
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A mechanic in the Indonesian city of Bandung, West Java, replaces the battery of an electric moped (Image: Dimas Rachmatsyah / Alamy)
Komang Ratih recently bought her 10-year-old son an electric moped so he could ride to school independently. They live on the Indonesian island of Bali, where electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular. Smaller and lighter than motorbikes, electric mopeds (e-mopeds) are considered the safer of the two, as well as more convenient, because they do not require registration to drive. With a starting price of around IDR 6 million (USD 365), they are also more affordable. As of December 2023, 4,500 electric vehicles (EVs) were registered in Bali – 400 of which were four-wheelers – among a population of approximately 4.3 million. Yet, the rise of EVs here highlights a critical challenge: managing the growing pile of used batteries.
Indonesia, with its population of 275 million, had 125 million motorcycles in circulation as of 2022. That year, the country set itself ambitious targets of 2.1 million electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) by 2025 and 13 million by 2030. However, by January 2024 the number of registered E2Ws stood at just 75,000. Although numbers in Bali rose following the introduction of subsidies in March 2023, the slow uptake underlines the effort required to meet these targets.
