The Indonesian electric motorbike market is getting busier and more exciting. Apart from Chinese brands, new names for original Indonesian electric motorbike manufacturers keep popping up.
One of them is Maka Motors, which plans to have offices and production facilities in the Cikarang area, West Java. The plan is that in that area they will produce motorbikes by employing 200 production workers.
“Maka Motors was founded in 2021 by Raditya Wibowo and Arief Fadillah, former Gojek executives. Both of them now want to make electric motorbikes that can meet the specific needs of the Indonesian people,” said Nikkei Asia, Tuesday (8/8/2023).
Currently, the population of electric motorbikes in Indonesia is dominated by those made in China. According to Maka Motors, electric motorbikes made in China do not fulfill the wishes and needs of the Indonesian people.
According to them, Indonesian people need strong and tough electric motors. Not only to transport passengers but also goods.
It is estimated that Nikkei Asia, an electric motorbike made by Maka Motors, will come in the form of a scooter with large luggage space and motorbike seats so that it can carry passengers safely and comfortably.
“For the electric motors they make, Maka Motors plans to produce electric motors with batteries that are more durable and have farther distances than electric motorbikes made in China,” explained Nikkei Asia.
While searching MNC Portal Indonesia on the official website, Maka Motors is known to really want to make an Indonesian electric motorbike.
“Our goal is very simple, as much as possible to make the best electric motorbikes, made by Indonesians for Indonesian people,” they wrote.
Recently, a few weeks ago that Maka Motors received initial funding of USD 37.6 million or the equivalent of IDR 563 billion. In a press statement for the funding, Maka Motors Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Raditya Wibowo, said that his party was conducting research and development (R&D) for two years to develop two-wheeled electric vehicles.
He considered that there are a number of perceptions that electric vehicles are still not fully a serious substitute for gasoline-powered bicycles. Electric vehicles are still not considered a competitive substitute.
“For many Indonesians, motorbikes are their most expensive asset. So there are high expectations from their motorbikes. They need to have a driving range. They need enough power to overtake cars on the road. They also need to look cool, they need to have enough storage space. enough to make it comfortable to carry passengers,” explained Raditya Wibowo.
But he sees that there are no electric motorbike products in Indonesia that answer all the challenges above. For this reason, he finally used this as an opportunity and then wanted to make an electric motorbike product that has competitiveness with gasoline-powered motorbikes.
