Gojek announced a strategic partnership with Gogoro, a global technology company in the battery swap ecosystem, to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in Indonesia. This partnership covers two areas, GoTo Group’s investment in Gogoro through the Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE); and cooperation between Gojek, Gogoro, and Pertamina through a battery swap pilot scheme and a Gogoro Smartscooter vehicle trial in Jakarta.
Gogogro’s Founder & CEO, Horace Luke said, one of today’s biggest challenges in Indonesia and around the world is the effort to transform urban transportation into a new generation of transportation modes that utilize electric motors that are smart, sustainable, and accessible and accepted by the wider community.
“Battery swap from Gogoro is the latest innovation in electric refueling. We present an open platform to support two-wheeler manufacturers in introducing electric vehicles that can refuel safely and are easy to use,” said Luke in an official statement, Tuesday (2/11).
Gojek Co-founder & CEO Kevin Aluwi added, “This partnership gather two companies with the same vision and thoughts for the adoption of electric vehicles as the preferred mode of transportation in Indonesia. “This ambition can only be achieved through the cooperation of various stakeholders. Therefore, this partnership is very important, if we want to realize our goal of reorganizing transportation modes within the city,” Kevin said.
GoTo’s investment for Gogoro was started in September 2021 through the Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) scheme, in connection with the business combination by Gogoro and Poema Global Holdings Group. This transaction is planned to be finalized in early 2022.
Electric motorcycle trial
Meanwhile, for the Gogoro Smartscooter electric motorcycle trial, in the early stages will be in Jakarta with the availability of 250 units and four GoStation swap battery stations located at Pertamina gas stations. Gradually, the two companies plan to increase the number of motors to 5 thousand units and introduce more swap battery stations.
For the record, Gogoro is one of the global innovation leaders in compact electric propulsion, battery design, battery swap, and advanced cloud services that utilize artificial intelligence to manage battery availability and security. Gogoro established the Gogoro Network ecosystem, an efficient battery swap platform recognized by Guidehouse Insights as the world’s leading urban light vehicle swap battery company.
There are more than 400 thousand riders and 2,100 battery swap stations within the Gogoro Network, serving 270 thousand daily swap batteries with more than 250 million total battery swaps to date. In addition to the Gogoro Network, in 2015, the company launched the Gogoro Smartscooter, the world’s first award-winning smart electric motorcycle.
In 2019, Gogoro Network developed the Powered by Gogoro Network Program (PBGN) which gives Gogoro’s vehicle manufacturing partners access to Gogoro’s innovations, including intelligence drivetrains and controllers, components and smart systems, therefore, they can develop and launch electric vehicles. which is unique and integrated with the Gogoro battery swap network.
This electric motorcycle trial is in line with Gojek’s sustainability goals and ongoing efforts to reduce the carbon footprint. In April 2021, Gojek launched a Sustainability Report which explained Gojek’s target to achieve Zero Emissions by 2030, including the plan to transition 100% of its two-wheeled fleet to electric vehicles.
As part of this plan, Gojek is actively looking for ways to develop a comprehensive electric vehicle ecosystem by leveraging technology to overcome the barriers to usage faced by driver partners and ensure consumers get an optimal experience.
Furthermore, in the report, Gojek shares significant steps to achieve its targets and to be reviewed and submitted to the public annually. One of them is GoGreener, which includes a commitment to carry out annual carbon inventories for scopes 1, 2, and 3, as well as waste counting starting in 2021.
Next, to launch the GoGreener Carbon Offset feature which is the world’s first carbon footprint absorption feature for B2C, directly involving customers, in the ride-hailing industry; launching the GoTransit service to facilitate multimodal travel to encourage the use of public transportation (first mile, last mile); other strategic actions.
Grab’s similar innitiative
Gojek’s closest competitor, Grab, has also taken similar inniative to reduce its carbon footprint. Grab is collaborating with local electric vehicle manufacturer VIAR, ordering more than 6,000 units of electric motorcycles in Semarang ready to be distributed until the end of 2021 throughout Indonesia. Apart from VIAR, Grab collaborates with other local manufacturers such as Gesits and Selis, to multinational manufacturers such as Hyundai, Honda, and Kymco.
From January 2020 to April 2021, more than 6,000 Grab’s electric vehicle fleets have helped reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 4 thousand tons, equivalent to the total CO2 absorption by more than 190 thousand trees a year. Grab has started trials of its GrabBike Electric Protect electric vehicle in Jakarta, Bali and Yogyakarta.
Especially in Central Java, last April, Grab strengthened support for the National Electric Vehicle ecosystem by launching electric scooters that can be used by the public, electric bicycles used by GrabFood delivery partners, and electric motorcycles used by GrabBike driver-partners in Surakarta.
In addition, Grab is also collaborating with the Surakarta City Transportation Service in utilizing the City Walk lane for the GrabWheels electric scooter personal mobility device lane and building a Public Electricity Supply Station (SPLU) together with PT. PLN Persero Surakarta. VIAR has also invested in the GrabWheels business unit as part of its support for the electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
