In May 2021, The Jakarta Post published a coverage about the prospect of electric vehicles (EV) in Indonesia, as the largest market in Southeast Asia. While the market for EVs remains in its infancy with about 15,000 EVs –mainly bikes– being sold in Indonesia in 2019, representing less than 0.2 per cent of annual vehicle sales, the prospect is still promising.

“When we studied a number of scenarios for the sector’s growth, our ‘reference scenario’ found demand for passenger cars reaching 250,000 units per year by 2030 – or 16 per cent of all new passenger car sales. Demand for electric two-wheelers could reach 1.9 million units per year in that time frame, or 30 per cent of new two-wheeler sales,” the article writes.

There are three factors that can support the growth of EVs in Indonesia –one of them being the technology used behind these vehicles.

This is the part where Indonesia-based startup SWAP Energy intends to play. The West Jakarta-based startup builds battery swapping infrastructure in the country with more than 400 swap stations already available in Greater Jakarta Area and Bali.

Its IoT technology connects batteries, swap stations, and e-motorcycles, enabling riders to see the status of their motorcycles, easily top-up mileage, and even turn off the motorcycles remotely via the SWAP application for security purposes.

The company aims to have a total of 1,500 swap stations placed in big cities in Indonesia by end of 2022. To support this goal, it recently secured an undisclosed, oversubscribed Pre-Series A funding round led by Kejora-SBI Orbit. The funding round also included participation from Baramulti Group, Living Lab Ventures (an affiliate of Sinar Mas Group), New Energy Nexus Indonesia, Yifang, Raksasa Capital as well as a number of strategic corporate investors and high-net-worth individuals.

“Upon closing this oversubscribed Pre-Series A funding round, we will expedite our plans to accelerate the battery swapping reach and the adoption of electric motorcycles in our beloved cities,” said Irwan Tjahaja, SWAP Energy co-founder and CEO in a press statement. “In order to cater for the growing demands and trends of electric vehicles, we believe that strong infrastructure, enjoyable driving experience, and best after-sales services should be our highest priority.”

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Swapping for the better

As an EV battery swapping platform, the advantages that SWAP Energy offers include improving the use of electric motorcycles, helping users to use them for a longer time with a convenient method.

“Before [the existence of] SWAP, the electric motorcycle was almost impossible to be used for long-range activities. The problem lies with limited space for batteries. If the battery size is too big, the cost would be too high,” Tjahaja explains in an email to e27.

“SWAP answers to those problems. You can extend your journey by swapping the battery; nine seconds is all you need,” he adds.

This is especially beneficial for users who are using electric motorcycles for business purposes. For example, in Indonesia, the national postal service recently implemented the use of electric motorcycles for its postal service workers. The existence of battery swapping platforms enables them to cut down on downtime caused by hours of battery charging.

The founding of SWAP Energy itself was based on the prospect of EVs in Indonesia. However, Tjahaja believes that in order for this potential to be realised, there has to be an infrastructure that supports the use of EVs for the general public –which includes battery-swapping facilities.

“I was very much interested in battery solutions. I believe that Indonesia has big potential for EV if we can provide a good infrastructure for it,” he says.

The CEO points out that there are currently 130 million motorcycles in the Indonesian market, and the company believes that they can make a significant impact if they can replace them with electric ones.

To promote the use of EVs, in addition to providing a technology that supports its use, SWAP Energy educates potential customers through the use of social media, events, and e-commerce platforms.

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It also teamed up with SMOOT, the e-motorcycle brand that PT Pos Indonesia uses for its postal service workers. It also works together with other companies such as Lazada Logistics, Alfamart, and Circle K.

In the future, SWAP Energy aims to secure more partnerships with more brands, particularly ride-hailing and logistics companies.

“We continuously improve SWAP ecosystem and its assets; from the battery, the swapping station, and its application to provide a seamless experience and more accessible for other e-motorcycle brands to adopt and use our infrastructure. We are currently having ongoing discussions with other e-motorcycle brands to use our battery ecosystem,” Tjahaja said.

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Image Credit: SWAP Energy

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