Ride-hailing giant Grab and the Indonesian government today unveiled the Electric Vehicle Ecosystem Roadmap that aims to accelerate electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the country and bring about a more environmentally sustainable transport network.
A Grab-branded electric Hyundai Ioniq car / Photo credit: Grab
As part of the roadmap, Grab partnered with automakers Hyundai, Astra Honda Motor, and Gesits to launch four- and two-wheel EV pilots in the Greater Jakarta region.
According to a statement, 20 brand-new Hyundai Ioniq electric cars will be used for the upcoming pilot. Grab users in Indonesia will then be able to choose to ride the EVs from the Grab app in early 2020. Hyundai invested in Grab’s series H round last year.
The pilots come four months after SoftBank committed to invest US$2 billion in Indonesia through Grab to build the country’s EV ecosystem and support the government’s goal of reaching 2 million EVs by 2025.
Grab claims it has the largest fleet of EVs in Southeast Asia, with 200 Hyundai Kona models in Singapore in a pilot project launched in January. It is also partnering with the city-state’s energy utilities provider, SP Group, to use its public EV charging network for Grab’s EVs.
In Indonesia, Grab inked an agreement with state-owned electricity provider Perusahaan Listrik Negara to co-build a network of EV charging stations. On the two-wheel front, the ride-hailing company has partnered with Astra Honda Motor and Gesits to launch EV bike pilots. The pilots will test the viability of using EV bikes for Grab’s ride-hailing, food, and parcels delivery business in the Greater Jakarta area, the company said.
Editing by Charmaine de Lazo
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